Overview

The Kelvin Cinema, in the Finnieston area of Glasgow, was built by the Edinburgh-based company Kelvin Cinema Limited. The cinema opened in early 1930 and originally sat 1,957.

The Kelvin was designed in the Atmospheric style with a Turkish Mosque / Moorish setting to the left of the screen and a Spanish Village to the right. The ceiling was painted to suggested a large canvas tent canopy giving shelter from the relentless Glasgow sun.

“Reconstruction and additions” were reported in mid-1935, by the same architects as who built the theatre, however no further details of the 1935 changes are on record.

The Kelvin Cinema’s ceiling wasn’t quite in keeping with the Atmospheric style, although the general treatment was similar to the Missouri Theatre in St. Joseph, Missouri, with the Kelvin’s painted tent canopy ceiling. Rectangular asbestos panels were used to tile the ceiling.

The Kelvin’s run as a cinema ended in 1959, and after periods as a boxing arena and a bingo club, it became an Indian restaurant called Crème de la Creme. To function as a restaurant, the main floor was levelled, the balcony was rebuilt into two levels, the projection room was adapted to hold water tanks, and the stage area was adapted for kitchen space with a new wall separating it from the auditorium.

In 2004, permission was granted to demolish the building for replacement with shops and flats, and the restaurant closed in March 2005 before demolition started in May 2005 and completed in July 2005.

Information and photos in part sourced from Scottish Cinemas and Theatres .