Gaumont

City, later the Hippodrome, then the Gaumont

Opened in 1911 as a 400-seater on the site of the Rising Sun pub in Eastgate Street, it was modernised and re-opened in 1915 as the Hippodrome with seven live acts on stage plus Pathe's Pictorial Animated Gazette. Gracie Fields was one of the stars who acted there in the 20s, but in 1930 the cinema abandoned live shows and installed sound equipment for the talkies as the de Luxe had done the year before.

Five years later major reconstruction gave it 1600 seats and a new foyer behind an imposing Portland Stone fascia. In 1954 CinemaScope and four-track stereophonic sound arrived. Audiences enjoyed the new technology for just over a year, then during an evening performance smoke was seen coming out of the roof of the building. No-one thought to call the fire brigade for half an hour, and it was only when the chief projectionist found he couldn't focus the film on the screen that the auditorium was cleared. No one was hurt, but the building was gutted by the spectacular conflagration which followed.

Despite declining cinema audiences reconstruction work began immediately and in June 1956 the actor Trevor Howard declared the smart new 1400-seater open.

Three months later the Rank Organisation took over the cinema and in 1959 it became the Gaumont. Rank also owned the nearby Odeon, and in 1961 it rationalised the Gaumont out of existence. The building stood empty until demolished and replaced by British Home Stores during the massive redevelopment of the city in 1964.