Astoria Theatre

The Astoria Theatre was a former cinema in Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Built in 1933 in the Art Deco style for a local entertainment magnate who opened one of Brighton's first cinemas many years earlier, it was the first and most important expansion of the Astoria brand outside London. It initially struggled against the town's other "super-cinemas", but enjoyed a period of success in the 1950s and 1960s before rapid decline set in, culminating in its closure in 1977. About 20 years of use as a bingo hall followed, but the building—whose clean lines gave "a sense of spacious grandeur" in a prominent city-centre site—stood empty from 2007 onward and passed through several owners. Permission was granted in 2012 for its demolition and replacement with an energy-efficient business centre designed by Conran and Partners, but several alternative plans were submitted subsequently and the building still stood until April 2018, when demolition work started. English Heritage listed the building at Grade II in 2000 for its architectural and historical importance.