Prestwick ~ The Broadway
Prestwick Broadway Cinema, now derelict and for sale 
©Mike
Bailey
Prestwick Broadway Cinema situated in the Main Street. ©Mike Bailey
Prestwick Broadway Cinema ©Mike Bailey
The Broadway Cinema, Prestwick
In their listing record, Historic Scotland notes that the Broadway cinema makes a positive contribution to the streetscape of the main thoroughfare in Prestwick.
The architect, Alister Gladstone MacDonald, specialised in cinema design. He built a number of cinemas in Scotland, including the La Scala cinemas in Glasgow and Grangemouth. However, MacDonald's most innovative designs were for the 'Newsreel Cinemas' at Waterloo and Victoria stations in London. He was the eldest son of the first Labour Prime Minister, James Ramsay MacDonald.
Among MacDonald's other designs was an unrealised News Theatre for Glasgow's Central Station. Other projects included conventional cinemas, most notably for the Caledonian Associated Cinemas group, including the Playhouses in Peebles, Montrose and Elgin, as well as the Empire Cinema and Peace Pavilion for the 1938 Empire Exhibition in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park. On the closure of the exhibition the Empire Cinema was relocated to Lochgilphead.
The Broadway Cinema opened in April 1935 and was built for the independent Prestwick Cinema Company Ltd. The
exterior of the building has two wings, which rounded onto a central recessed section over the entrance. Seating in
the auditorium was provided in stalls and circle. The proscenium was 34 feet wide. There was a cafe located over
the entrance and a large car park at the rear.
The Broadway Cinema went over to part-time bingo use in the early 1960’s and by 1966, films had ceased and it
became a full time bingo club. After this closed, the foyer and rear stalls area became an amusement arcade. The
front stalls section was later converted into squash courts, with a false ceiling suspended. The former circle and
cafe areas were unused.
In 2003, the building was sold, with plans put forward to demolish the auditorium and build a hotel, retaining the
facade and foyer areas as its entrance. However, this has not happened and the entire building
remains unused.
On 9th August 2004, Historic Scotland designated the Broadway Cinema a Grade C(s) Listed building.
Their listing includes the following description.
It is built to a bold Art Deco design with a strong horizontal emphasis balanced by the height of the central recessed block. The 1st floor of the building is stepped up and back from the street line so that it could be flood-lit. The design is similar to the Playhouse cinema in Perth that was built a year earlier by the architect A Cattanach and also has curved side wings, a tall recessed central block, and shops flanking the entrance. The shop fronts at the Broadway are a particularly good survival, especially No 78 which appears to be complete; the other shops (numbers 76,82 and 84) all retain some original (or near-contemporary) glazing.
The entrance doors to the cinema also retain their original Art Deco glazing. The rather stark appearance of the cinema at present (2004) belies its original glamorous design. The base course and window band are built of red brick that would not have originally been painted, and the central block originally had three further windows above the existing three. A contemporary report, quoted by Rob Close in his letter to 'Picture House' describes the cinema as: 'Built partly of synthetic stone of local construction and bright bricks, [it] presents a mild red and white appearance which is eye-taking without being blatant'.
An application for a change of use of leisure centre to form public house
was approved by the local authority in March 2011, despite several objections from the community. Detailed plans are not available at this time. The planning history for the former Broadway building is available online at South Ayrshire Council's website.
MacDonaldwas born in London 18th May 1898 and died at Brighton 22nd March 1993.
He is remembered as a pioneer in many aspects of architectural science. Throughout his long career he was interested in building science and experimental materials, helping to found the Royal Institute of British Architects' architectural science board, lecturing on scientific lighting and promoting building research.
On leaving Bedales School in 1915, where he had been educated with his brother Malcolm, he took the brave step of declaring his pacifist beliefs and in 1916, when he was 18, volunteered as an orderly with the Friends Ambulance Unit. He worked for three years on No 17 ambulance train in northern France ferrying the wounded from the trenches back to the coast to be shipped to England. He drew haunting pen-and-ink drawings of the devastated countryside as well as doing comedy turns in the revues organised on board.
He was one of the band of architects who at the outbreak of the Second World War decided that St Paul's Cathedral must be saved. Spurred on by the Dean, they set up a firefighting vigil, known as the St Paul's Watch, armed with only hassocks and buckets of water.
{Extracts from The Independent
Obituary: Alister MacDonald
Saturday 27 March 1993]
Text on this and linked pages is based on material published in Robert Ebert on Cinema Trreasures, Historic Scotland's Listed Buildings, The Independent, Dictionary of Scottish Architects and the Scottish Cinemas and Theatres Project.
For further information visit the Scottish Cinema Website using this LINK. The Broadway page includes numerous photographs of the interior and copies of archive material found in the building during a recent survey.