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76 Church Street, Warrington, WA1 2TH.
Opened Jan 1914. Closed 1958. Demolished later after further use.
1 screen. 627 seats.
The Star Kinema opened in January 1914 with 650 seats. [I assume the number of seats was reduced over time.] It was designed by Manchester based architect G.H. Kay. Some variety shows were held on the stage which was only 6 feet deep, and there were two dressing rooms.
The cinema used to interchange films between the Picturedrome in Sankey Street. When part one of the film was over, a lad would cycle with a can of film from one cinema to the other to exchange it, enabling the two cinemas to show the same film on the same day.
The Star Kinema was closed in 1958, never having been equipped to screen CinemaScope films, and it became Catterall’s woodwork shop.
It was later demolished, and Apple Court Nursing Home now stands on the site.
Contributed by Ken Roe. Additional information by Gordon Gandy. Many thanks to Peter Spilsbury for use of his photo.
mywarrington 