Futurist Cinema, Lime Street

The Futurist was a lovely old Cinema that stood on Lime Street in Liverpool City Centre. Sadly the building was finally demolished in 2016, despite a campaign by Heritage Organisations to save it.

The former Cinema opened its doors on 16th September 1912 as the “Lime Street Picture House”, being the most advanced Cinema in Liverpool at that time. There was seating for 1,029 person’s as well as a full orchestra to accompany the silent films of those early years.

The Picture House was renamed the “Futurist” in October 1920, before closing its doors for the final time on 17th July 1982. There followed over 3 decades of neglect, where the building structure suffered greatly. A campaign to stop the deterioration and save the Futurist was launched.

I was contacted and asked to photograph the interior of the former cinema in October 2015 along with the Save the Futurist campaign Team. The visit was arranged specially to record the interior of this lovely building, before its impending demolition commenced. These are most probably the last official images taken inside the Futurist before it was lost forever, becoming a memory.

These images are an important reminder of the lovely building that once stood on Lime Street. It is evident that although the building was clearly in an atrocious state at the time these photographs were taken, it is still clear to see how the once grand and beautiful features of this building still shone though the devestation.

Following the local campaign and the failed legal battle by Save Britain’s Heritage to save Liverpool’s Futurist, or at the very least it’s lovely Georgian styled Façade, demolition of the Futurist finally commenced on 3rd of August 2016.

After our visit to the Futurist, we were thrilled to also be taken across the road to also visit the inside of Lime Street’s second grand cinema, the Former ABC.

Media Coverage

National Museums Liverpool, Liverpool’s Lost Cinemas – NML, article with link.

Are these the last pictures taken inside The Futurist? – Liverpool Echo