Former Gala Bingo, Station Road, Wigan- Building Investigation

Following a request from Neville Patterson of Gleeds Management Services, acting on behalf of Modus Properties, a photographic survey and summary descriptive record of the former Gala Bingo Hall, Station Road, Wigan (NGR SD 5841 0580), was undertaken by Oxford Archaeology North between November 2004 and January 2005. The building is to be demolished as part of the Grand Arcade development, which is being delivered by Modus Properties.
The building was constructed in 1938 for George Green Ltd, a family cinema company based in Glasgow, from where architect John Fairweather hailed. The basic design of all Fairweather’s theatres appears to have been based on the Roxy in New York, which has the stepped façade, and the brick and tile construction is typical of many of the 1930s super-cinemas.
The main body of the structure comprises a large rectangular six bay auditorium, originally with stalls and circle, seating over 2000, but following the decline of the cinema industry in the late twentieth century, it was severely partitioned to form three cinema screens in the circle and restaurant areas, with a bingo hall in the stalls.
Cinemas formed a major role in popular culture from the late nineteenth century to the rapid rise of television from the late 1950s. Due to its location in the heart of Wigan’s music scene of the 1960s, the cinema survived in its original condition longer than many contemporary structures as it was used as a concert venue, most notably for the Beatles in 1964.