Odeon Cinema, Clacton-on-Sea (EHER 81176)

The Clacton-on-Sea Odeon opened on 30 May 1936 in a town which already possessed three small cinemas. The Odeon had a capacity of 1,214 seats but this was soon surpassed when the Century opened with a capacity of 1,734 seats a little while after. However, with a design by T Cecil Howitt, the Odeon was the far more architecturally striking of the two. Its facade was tiled with an expanse of buff coloured faience, closely-spaced in pairs to form a basket weave pattern. Across the top of the facade there were three thin green stripes which provided the only detail amongst the vast sea of faience walling. The central entrance block of the cinema rose through the building to form a flat-roofed tower on which was located the main Odeon sign. The cinema closed in the autumn of 1976 and was taken over in June 1977 by an independent, renamed Salon. It closed on 30 November 1980 and was demolished in 1984 to be replaced by shops.

Information from NRHE data transfer The Clacton-on-Sea Odeon opened on 30 May 1936 in a town which already possessed three small cinemas. The Odeon had a capacity of 1,214 seats but this was soon surpassed when the Century opened with a capacity of 1,734 seats a little while after. However, with a design by T Cecil Howitt, the Odeon was the far more architecturally striking of the two. Its facade was tiled with an expanse of buff coloured faience, closely-spaced in pairs to form a basket weave pattern. Across the top of the facade there were three thin green stripes which provided the only detail amongst the vast sea of faience walling. The central entrance block of the cinema rose through the building to form a flat-roofed tower on which was located the main Odeon sign. The cinema closed in the autumn of 1976 and was taken over in June 1977 by an independent, renamed Salon. It closed on 30 November 1980 and was demolished in 1984 to be replaced by shops. <1> <2> <3<