Hull’s ‘Blitz’ cinema, one of the UK’s last remaining relics of bomb damage from the Second World War, could soon be given a new lease of life.
Listed as a Grade II historic building because of its significance as a rare surviving blitzed building, the remains of the National Picture Theatre have stood on its original site on Beverley Road since the 1941 bombing raid.
Now after a funding boost, new restoration work is set to begin in 2024 with the aim of turning the site into an educational facility and memorial area.
As well as restoring the façade to its former period style, including iconic windows and signage, the renovation also aims to preserve structural elements, such as the two large concrete beams that saved the lives of the 150 people inside the theatre on the night it was bombed.
Ironically, the audience was watching the Charlie Chaplin movie The Great Dictator when the bomb fell.
When the refurbishment is complete, the bombed building will serve as a monument to the ordinary civilians who served on the Home Front, as well as those city residents who died in the war.
Hull was the second most bombed city in the country during the Blitz of 1940 and 1941, and out of 91,660 houses, only 5,945 survived the air raids undamaged.
Designed by architects Runton and Barry for the De-Luxe Theatre Company and constructed in 1914, the former National Picture Theatre had a façade in redbrick, dressed in Portland stone, and could accommodate 1,050 people in stalls and balcony seats.
The restoration work is going ahead thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund along with Hull City Council and the volunteer-run National Civilian World War II Memorial Trust.
For tourism information about Hull, see www.visithull.org
Photo, above: Hull History Centre
Photo, below: Neil Holmes
