Stella Picture House Seaforth Road, Seaforth

This cinema has been built at a cost of £25,000 and is designed to seat 1,250 people. Immediately behind the front entrance doors a large foyer gives access to the auditorium and a wide marble staircase leads to the circle floor above. There are two separate exit staircases from the circle and a separate entrance from to the operating and re-winding rooms. Ample exits are provided to the ground floor. The front elevation is largely faced with Burmantoft’s "Cream Marmo." The architect is Mr George E Tonge of Lord-street, Southport.[Builder 7 January 1921 Page 41]

The Stella Picture House, on Seaforth Road, Seaforth, was built at a cost of £36,000 and described as a super cinema with seating for 1,200. Its grand opening took place in December 1920 with bookings beyond expectations. The cinema’s audiences were at their peak in the late 1940s and its hours of opening increased. But in 1955, the Stella was suffering due to competition from three other cinemas in the area. It closed in July 1958 with the double feature If I’m Lucky starring Perry Como and Plunder Road starring Gene Raymond. In May 1959, the building was used as a roller skating rink before a firm of printers applied to take it over. This was rejected by the council and a public inquiry went in their favour. The building was demolished in 1964 and redeveloped as the Stella shopping precinct.[Crosby Herald November 2007 Archives]

Notes    Burmantofts ceased production of terra cotta in 1904 but in 1908 the firm created an artificial marble marketed under the name “Marmo.”

Reference    Builder 7 January 1921 Page 41 with ground floor plan and illustration
Reference    Crosby Herald November 2007 Archives