Eye On Manchester blog by Aidan O’Rourke Tutor Photographer

Personal & professional diary on photography, languages, Français, Deutsch, local interest, art, music, travel and more

Michael Savage writes: On the 15th Feb Manchester City Council will sit down and decide the fate of the Odeon Cinema on Oxford Street.

We already know that the head of planning recommends that the cinema is demolished and a new office block is constructed in its place, so will the outcome of this meeting surprise us? Can the cinema be saved? Is it worth saving? Is the new office block a suitable replacement? In this article I set out my own thoughts.

Read the article by Michael Savage on the aidan.co.uk site

Ancoats mill under demolition

I’ve visited the development area of Ancoats and noticed that some of the magnificent 19th century mill buildings appear to be under demolition, including this one.

The mills along the Ashton Canal formed a historic ensemble of building, unique in their own way and symbolic of the industrial greatness of Manchester. Some of these buildings have already been torn down and more will disappear.

Will future generations look back and question why so much of Manchester’s heritage, which survived intact up to the year 2000, was allowed to disappear in the years that followed?

Disused Odeon cinema Oxford St Manchester

The Cinema Theatres Association are to apply urgently for the Paramount / Odeon Cinema on Oxford Street to be spot listed at Grade II.

It has been discovered that the interior plasterwork, thought to be lost, is actually in very good condition. A press release gives a detailed and authoritative description of the building, which appears to be even more valuable and unique than I had realised.

It is shocking that Manchester City Council would consider allowing the destruction of this precious piece of cinema history and a major architectural asset from the 20th century.

It was pioneering in its time both in its design, influenced by American picture houses, and in its size. Built at the beginning of the 30’s, the Paramount was a major statement of Manchester’s importance as a city of cinema-goers.

Can the so-called ‘original modern’ city be clueless enough to destroy one of its most original and – by the standards of the era in which it was built – most modern buildings?

See my article on the demolition of the Paramount / Odeon in the articles portfolio on the www.aidan.co.uk site.

Visit the website of the Cinema Theatre Association, which has members all over the UK and beyond.