The Belmont Cinema The Belmont Cinema is on
Belmont Street. It is an arthouse cinema which has been closed since October 2022 following the
admininistration of its former owner, the
Centre for the Moving Image. It is planned to reopen under new management though a date has not yet been announced.
Capitol Theatre The
Capitol Theatre is located on
Union Street. It has also been known as the Capitol Super Cinema or the Electric Theatre. The building is Category B statutory listed. The Capitol Cinema opened in February 1933, on the site of the earlier Electric Cinema, seating 2,100 to the plans of architects AGR Mackenzie and Clement George. In 1933, the Capitol was the most luxurious cinema, with full stage facilities and a Compton Organ. The Capitol closed for regular film showings in the 1960s, but it was used also for occasional rock concerts until the late 1990s; it was largely moth-balled since 1998, except for the use of the restaurant as a bar called "Oscars". The B-listed Art deco interior was extremely well preserved at that point. Permission was granted in 2002–03 for conversion to nightclubs, which saw the auditorium split horizontally to form two large bar-clubs, and the rear stage wall cut open to create a large glass wall and additional entrances. The original restaurant is now out of use. Plans to restore and return the Compton pipe organ to the building have never taken place. In 2011, Aberdeen City Council has consulted
The Theatres Trust on the partial demolition of the Capitol Theatre in order to create a hotel accommodation with an associated access and parking The conditions set by the council however included the approval of: • the conservation methods for the restoration of the art deco interior and exterior of the building • specification, location and dimensions for dismantling, relocating and reassembling the original organ pipe screen, organ niches, Compton organ and proscenium arch within the proposed conference room • details of the restoration and refurbishment of the external canopy and entrance doors, new shop front, entrance lobby and stair and the first floor tea room to recreate the original character and appearance of the building Also, that the restored art deco café/tea room shown on drawings should not be used unless fully open to the general public, unless the planning authority has given written consent for a variation.
The Palace Theatre The
Palace Theatre, located on Bridge Street, was built following destruction by fire in 1896 of the People's Palace on the same site. The interior of the new Palace, originally with two tiers, was completely gutted to the shell walls in 1929 and rebuilt, re-opening as a cinema with one balcony in 1931. The four-storey asymmetrical granite front survives largely intact, but this is a crude design of industrial quality - plain with a pediment over the three central bays and three large doorways with thin broken segmental pediments. == Concerts and reception halls ==