Final curtain as cinema to be demolished after blaze
A HISTORIC Glasgow theatre and cinema has been so badly damaged by fire it will have to be demolished.
The blaze ripped through the Coliseum in Eglinton Street last week, causing the roof to collapse and wrecking the interior of the listed building.
Council bosses have been in touch with the Coliseum's owner, who has been told by building experts it is no longer safe and must be flattened.
But the site of the inferno is still being treated as a crime scene and will not be handed back until the investigation is complete.
Owners of listed buildings have to get permission from Historic Scotland before they can demolish them.
However, local authorities have the power to give the go-ahead to flatten a listed building if it is unsafe.
The chip shop and newsagent that made up part of the Coliseum building were forced to close as a result of the fire. They are still closed and will be flattened along with the rest of the building .
Eglinton Street, one of the busiest routes to the South Side, has been closed since the early morning fire on May 25.
A city council spokesman said the need to demolish the building meant the road was likely to remain closed for at least another three weeks.
The Coliseum opened in 1905 as a music hall with seating for almost 3000 people, but began showing films full-time in 1925. It was the venue for the city's first screening of a talking picture, in January 1929.
It closed as a cinema in 1980, and lay empty for years. In 1986 it was listed Category B by Historic Scotland.
The building reopened as a bingo hall in 1987 but closed in 2003 and has been derelict since. It changed ownership in early 2006, and in September 2006, the council had to draw up an Urgent Repairs notice to ensure it remained wind and watertight.
Publication date 04/06/09
