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Summary

The Ritz cinema built in 1936 is now a public house.

Full description

This cinema, with seating for 1600, was built in 1936 and opened in February 1937. It was designed by the Lincoln City Council architect Leslie C. Norton of London for Central Picture Theatres (Lincoln). In 1956 it was renamed from ‘The Ritz’ to ‘The Odeon’ after it was acquired by the Rank Organisation. It closed in 1981 but reopened in 1985 as ‘The Ritz’ again and, as well as a cinema, it served as a concert venue until the late 1980s or early 1990s when it was divided into a three-screen cinema. It closed as a cinema in January 1998 and became the Ritz Public House operated by Wetherspoons. The building is the best preserved example of a major cinema in Lincoln (and possibly in the East Midlands). Parts of the ground floor were shops fronting onto High Street until the conversion into a public house. {1}{2}

<1> 2009->, Lincoln City Heritage Database, Record no.2122 (Index). SLI13737.

<2> Jones, Michael, J; Stocker, D.; and Vince, A., 2003, The City by the Pool including LARA, RAZ 11.74 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI9142.

Monument Types

• CINEMA (Mid 20th Century to Late 20th Century - 1937 AD to 1997 AD)
• SHOP (Mid 20th Century to Late 20th Century - 1937 AD to 1997 AD)
• CONCERT HALL (Late 20th Century - 1985 AD to 1991 AD?)
• PUBLIC HOUSE (Late 20th Century to 21st Century - 1998 AD to 2050 AD)

Protected Status

• Conservation Area

Sources and further reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.