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Olympia Theatre of Varieties, Glasgow — 1911 and Today
A theatre which has survived — but not quite in the way you might expect. The Olympia Theatre of Varieties opened at Bridgeton Cross in Glasgow’s East End on 18 September 1911, originally accommodating around 2,000 people. The building was designed by the Glasgow architectural practice George Arthur & Son — apparently principally by John Arthur, who had continued his father George’s practice following George Arthur’s death in 1899. The spectacular theatre interior, however, was the work of Frank Matcham & Company. Matcham’s auditorium was richly decorated, with elaborate plasterwork and accommodation on several levels. The Olympia was also designed from the outset with the rapidly developing cinema business in mind and was equipped to show films as well as presenting live variety. That proved prophetic. In 1924, the Olympia was acquired by Scottish Cinema and Variety Theatres, a forerunner of Associated British Cinemas, and live variety was abandoned in favour of full-time film presentation. Unfortunately, Matcham’s interior did not survive the Olympia’s transition into the modern cinema age. In 1938 the auditorium was comprehensively reconstructed by cinema architects Charles J. McNair and Henry F. Elder. Matcham’s decorative scheme and stage facilities disappeared and a new Art Deco auditorium, seating 1,689, opened on 21 November that year. The cinema was renamed the ABC in 1963, but declining cinema audiences eventually caught up with it and films ceased in March 1974. The building subsequently found new life as a bingo hall — Historic Environment Scotland dates that use from 1978 — and later became a furniture warehouse. Eventually it fell empty and into serious decline. A major fire in November 2004 added to its problems, and for a time the future of the Olympia looked distinctly precarious. Its eventual rescue was imaginative rather than archaeological. The old auditorium was demolished and the important historic frontage at Bridgeton Cross retained as part of a major redevelopment for Clyde Gateway, designed by Page\Park Architects. Behind the surviving Olympia façade a new four-storey structure was created, providing Bridgeton Library, sporting facilities — including a high-performance centre for boxing — and office and academic accommodation. The overall redevelopment represented an investment of just under £10 million and was completed in 2012, with the refurbished Olympia opening to the public around the turn of 2012/13. Today the building includes the University of Glasgow’s Olympia Social Research Hub, alongside Bridgeton Library and Boxing Scotland’s national high-performance facilities. The surviving historic portion is Category B listed, having been designated in 1977. Its great curved corner, classical columns and distinctive domed roof remain an imposing landmark at Bridgeton Cross — a remarkable physical reminder of the Olympia’s theatrical beginnings even though neither Matcham’s auditorium nor its later cinema interior survives. The comparison above shows an artist’s impression of the Olympia Theatre of Varieties in its early years alongside the surviving façade as it appears today.
