Local Life - St Helens - May 2019

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The Capitol showing Tommy around 1975; picture by Stephen Johnson
the ABC chain in 1935. It held one screen with a
seating capacity of 1,550, and underwent extensive
renovation work in the 60s.
St. Helens residents have fond memories of watching
Disney cartoons like Bambi and Snow White at the
Capitol, as well as regular screenings of Kung Fu
flicks.
The Capitol closed as a cinema in December 1978
and was converted into a sports centre. It still exists
today, though the gym has since closed down.
ABC Savoy
St. Helens was actually home to not one but two ABC
cinemas, the second of these being The Cannon on
Bridge Street. From 1910-1934 the site was home
to the original Savoy Picture House (also known as
the Picturedome), before being demolished and
replaced in 1935 by the ‘New’ Savoy.
The cinema hosted a café and 1,515 seats, along
with balcony seating. It was taken over by the ABC
in February 1936 and eventually became known as
the ABC Savoy.
The cinema’s capacity was extended in 1978 and
eventually became part of the Cannon group, and
was renamed The Cannon to compensate for this. It
continued to operate until September 1993, and was
eventually demolished to make way for the Chinese
Buffet and retail units that now exist on the site.
Scala Cinema
The Griffin family were widely known in St. Helens for
their furniture store on the corner of Westfield Street
and Ormskirk Street. But in 1912 the family built their
very own electric theatre on Ormskirk Street.
The cinema was taken over in 1928 and became Scala
Cinema, equipped with a British Talking Pictures