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History The History of the Granada in Hove streches out over seventy years, and while researching it, some suprising information was thrown my way! Perhaps most interestingly of all, the cinema was never actually part of the Granada chain - indeed, it was not until 1985 that the Granada group actually had anything to do with the place. But the two were connected. To understand this odd state of affairs, we have to go back to January 1930, and the opening of the Granada Cinema in Dover, Kent. This cinema was intended to be the first of a chain of Granada Cinemas, owned by the Bernstein brothers, Sidney and Cecil, who had inherited an entertainment empire of cinemas and theatres from their father Alexander. These businesses had been sold off in 1928, and the brothers put plans in action to start a cinema circuit of their own, which was to be called Granada. Dover was the first of the chain to be opened, followed by Walthamstow in September 1930, but the levels of profit were less than expected, and just over a year later, in April 1931, the Granada Dover was leased out to an independent film exhibitor, Nathan N. Lee, who formed a new company, Granada (Dover) Ltd. to run it. Granada (Dover) then went on to open another cinema, in Hove, which opened to the public in July 1933, and which was naturally also named the Granada. These cinemas then ran independently from the Granada chain, until the freeholds for both were purchased by the ABC cinema chain in the middle of 1935. Curiously though, neither cinema was given the ABC name at the time; this did not happen until many years later, in May 1965. It seems bizarre that a major cinema chain could run two of its premises using the name of a competitor for so many years, but this was indeed the case at Dover and Hove. Like the 'proper' Granada sites, the Hove cinema was equipped for stage performances as well as film shows, with five dressing rooms and a deep stage. Initially it was fitted with an elaborate Compton electric organ, but after the two ersatz Granada cinemas were sold to the ABC circuit in June 1935, it was poached by the chain for a new cinema in south London in 1936, and has today passed into preservation. The Hove cinema was the first of the two to close, in 1974, despite protests from local residents. In retrospect however, it does seem remarkable that a cinema in such a suburban location could have lasted for so long; after all, the huge flagship 'proper' Granada cinema in Tooting had closed its doors to the public the year previous. The cinema had received a considerable amount of attention from its owners throughout the 1960s, receiving modernisation in both 1962 and 1970, and after closure in the June of 1974, the period of inactivity at the Granada Hove did not last for long, and the building was re-opened as a Lucky Seven bingo hall by Ladbrokes shortly afterwards. At the start of the 1980s, the interior of the building was extensively modified; a suspended ceiling was installed over the stalls, effectively blocking off the circle, and the floor of the stalls was also levelled. By 1983, the building was owned by a bingo company called Lion Leisure, which was subject to a buyout by Granada in 1985 - belatedly making it a proper part of the sprawling Granada empire. This situation only lasted for six years however, as the Granada group sold all of its bingo halls to Bass Brewers in 1991, which were subjected to a management buyout another six years later. The future of the Bingo Hall in Hove seemed secure, depite the neglect that parts of the building had been subjected to, as the Gala Group owned the freehold of the site, and the club proved to be profitable. But after an offer was made for the site by a company specialising in retirement flats in early 2003, the Gala Group decided to close the club (although staff there had been reassured to the contrary in June of that year) in an effort to secure planning permission for demolition of the building. This application was however unsuccessful, and in 2005 it currently sits empty and boarded up - the only use seen since closure being an impromptu takeover by squatters in 2004. Planning permission for demolition of the building in order to create affordable housing was recently reapplied for, and as the building has stood empty for nearly two years, deteriorating all the while, it seems likely that permission to demolish will be granted.
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website, 2008.