124 Balmore Road, Former Cinema

Former 'super cinema' designed in a modern-classical style by architects John McKissack and Son (James McKissack) in 1932 and opened 1933. The building is a large, symmetrical, three-storey, wide rectangular plan purpose-built cinema with a stepped front elevation and pitched and piended roof auditorium to the rear.

The principal elevation has a central three-bay pilastered and architraved section of painted red sandstone over an 11-bay single storey ground floor block with painted tiles with painted sandstone blocking course. The entrance block is set forward form the stepped gabled and rendered auditorium which has stepped painted banding.

The side and rear elevations are rendered brick with roof pitch frame extending to ground to the south. The rear elevation has a boxed section protruding at mid height (the horn chambers). There is a large gap in the west elevation where demolition had begun (2024).

The roof is pitched (piended to the rear) and was formerly clad in corrugated asbestos sheets. These have been removed exposing the roof trusses (2024).

The interior has been stripped out to the bare walls retaining the proscenium frame and steel framing of the balcony. The entrance section appears to have been refurbished for use as a retail unit. The rooms to the east of the plan were formerly used as the cinema offices and toilets.

Historical development

The building is first shown on the Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1938, published 1946). It was designed as "The Mecca" cinema by John McKissack and Son to hold 1600 patrons and it opened on March 16 August 1933. A newspaper article from the following week recorded its opening under the management of George Smith and James Welsh (who were also Glasgow Corporation councillors) and was intended to serve the new municipal housing estate (The Era; Cinema Treasures; Peter, Scotland's Cinemas).

The Dean of Guild Court plans show that the building was commissioned by W H Martin and others, and it is thought that others included Smith and Welsh. (See Section 8).

In 1950 the cinema was taken over by George Singleton Cinemas Ltd. and renamed the Vogue Cinema.

The building ceased to trade as a cinema and in April 1968 was converted to a commercial bingo hall. The bingo hall closed in the 1990s and the auditorium has not been in use since this date. The entrance section of the ground floor was used as a retail premises until around 2021.

In 2005, the entrance canopy was removed (Scottish Cinemas).

There are currently no surviving interior fixtures and fittings to the auditorium. All that remains of the interior is the steel framing. Asbestos roofing was removed and there has been partial removal of exterior walls to the west (2024).