Bingo Halls Save Classic Odeons

Becoming bingo halls has saved some Odeon buildings

Bingo halls have provided salvation for some classic architecture as out-of-town multiplexes have seen the closure of Odeon cinemas nationwide, reports the Daily Mail.

The publication notes the "sad fate" of some of the eye-catching cinema buildings, which were constructed in a range of inspired styles.

A New York skyscraper-style structure in Waltham Forest is among those lost to history, as it was demolished to make way for a bargain store.

But others still survive - and have the patronage of bingo halls to thank - the article notes.

One, at Bridgewater in Somerset, even still screens films as a cinema occupies part of the building, the rest of which now offers bingo action.

While its stepped roof is gone, the pillars which supported the canopy remain and the rest of the building is little changed since 1936.

Elsewhere, an Art Deco structure in Kingstanding, Birmingham, offers the same glass-brick frontage as a bingo hall as when it was an Odeon cinema in 1935.

The buildings were among the first Odeon cinemas to be opened following the formation of the company in 1930 by Oscar Deutsch - and before its 1941 acquisition by J Arthur Rank.