The Palace Cinema (1939)

 
Can the Façade of the Palace Cinema be Saved?

The burned-out shell and dilapidated façade of the Palace Cinema have blighted Burntisland's High Street for two decades. Little wonder then that many folk simply want to see a comprehensive demolition job. But others believe that the façade could be restored to something approaching its former glory, and provide an enduring reminder of an important aspect of Burntisland's heritage. When it was opened, the Palace ranked as one of the most impressive art deco cinema buildings in Scotland. It could once again be an architectural highlight in Burntisland's High Street.

The history of the Palace Cinema (full name, the Palace Cinema Picture Palace, and known locally as the Picture House) is told in Norman Mackie's article. It opened in 1939, and served the town well until around the early 1970s. In its final period as a cinema, it attempted to compete with the influence of television by showing 'Midnight Movies', an initiative which had some success in attracting the romantically inclined young folk in the town. But eventually television won the battle, and the building then served as an amusement arcade for a number of years. A disastrous fire in 1985 destroyed everything but the external walls and the façade.

The photographs below (courtesy of Burntisland Heritage Trust and Helen Mabon respectively) show: left - the Palace Cinema in its heyday; and right - in the 1970s as an amusement arcade and with its canopy removed. Note the impressive decorative stained glass windows.

After the fire, the building had the misfortune to fall into the hands of Canmore Developments (Scotland) Ltd of Dunfermline. The man behind this firm, Bruce Ferguson, ignored pleas from the local authority to, at the very least, make the façade presentable, and demonstrated what can at best be described as an irresponsible attitude to local environmental concerns. The paint peeled, the rats rampaged, and the sycamores sprouted. In recent years, the occupiers of the two shop units decided they had had enough and the entire building was left to the mercy of the elements.

At the time of writing (November 2004), there are signs that something might at last be done about Burntisland's worst eyesore. The recently announced Burntisland & Kinghorn Townscape Heritage Initiative (backed by the Fife Historic Buildings Trust, Fife Council and others, and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund) includes plans to develop the site. The 'plans' appear at present to be no more than a vague proposal to demolish the cinema and replace it with a block of flats. However, Burntisland based developer Zander Williamson of Collinswell Land Ltd has now come up with a proposal of his own. The following summary is reproduced courtesy of Burntisland's community newspaper, the Burgh Buzz:

"Collinswell Land are prepared to buy the cinema, make it safe and presentable and then seek partners to develop it for retail activity. The FHBT proposal disregards the social and cultural significance of the cinema building. The 'Art Deco' façade has become a familiar and cherished landmark in the High Street. A residential development would not enhance the commercial viability of the High Street. In contrast, Collinswell Land propose to conserve and restore the façade and develop the site for retail use. The façade will be retained and conserved to secure its structural integrity. In time, the façade will be fully restored with all its 'Art Deco' features reinstated: the walls to the shops and the cinema entrance will be re-tiled with white glazed tiles and new stainless steel door and window frames. The former cinema entrance will be opened up with new stainless steel clad columns and stainless steel framed doors crowned with a stainless steel and glass canopy. The render to the upper walls will be replaced with a white coloured smooth render and the central window reinstated in the 'Art Deco' style. The adjacent Post Office Distribution Centre is due for closure, and the acquisition of this site together with the site of the former cinema would provide sufficient space for a 'central' store for a national supermarket retailer. The combined site would accommodate a 10,000 sq ft store, complete with administration offices and a customer car park with 25 spaces."

So it looks as if something will happen, although it will take time. A key factor is that Fife Council have now, at long last, committed themselves to initiating a Compulsory Purchase Order for the building if it proves impossible to move things forward without such drastic action. And one of Burntisland's Fife Councillors, Ron Edwards, has declared himself in favour of retention of the façade and is mobilising support for this within the town.

If you have any comments on this issue, please email me (Iain Sommerville) at iars@fife40.freeserve.co.uk, and I will pass them on to Councillor Edwards and others. I'd also be delighted to have old photos of the Palace in its earlier years, as the ones on this page do not do it full justice. If you have views on the architectural merits of the building, I'd be pleased to receive these too, and will pass them on.

The Cinema City and Beyond website has a remarkable collection of 65 photographs from the interior of the Palace Cinema as it is today. Remember to click on the thumbnails for larger versions of the photos.

The old photo on the left shows Miss Mackie, Director and Manageress of the Palace Cinema, pictured in its luxurious lounge. I am very grateful to Norman Mackie for his permission to reproduce the photo.

The prancing reindeer on the panel behind Miss Mackie was a motif repeated elsewhere in the cinema's decor, notably in the stained glass windows in the façade. The photo on the right was taken relatively recently from the inside of the shell of the cinema. It shows the most complete of the three stained glass windows in the façade, and the reindeer motif is visible. The windows are boarded up on the outside, so it is normally impossible to see them. My thanks to Gordon Barr of the Cinema City and Beyond website for this photo.
 

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