Safari Cinema

Safari Cinema (formerly known as The Savoy and ABC Croydon) was an independent cinema located on the A235 in Broad Green, London Borough of Croydon. During a chunk of its lifetime the cinema was owned by the Associated British Cinemas chain.

The cinema had three screens inside, equalling 2276 seats. The classic style cinema was designed by William R. Glen.

History

Opened on March 9, 1936, the ABC-owned Savoy was designed by William R. Glen and seated 2,300. It was sited a fair distance outside the town centre. Lighting in the large spacious auditorium was entirely indirect, mainly from troughs on the ceiling.

On March 31, 1953 an electrical fault resulted in a fire which totally destroyed the auditorium. Post-war building restrictions were still in force and the repaired Savoy reopened with a utilitarian appearance on December 27, 1953. In July 1958, it closed to allow a more extensive reconstruction to take place. When it reopened as the ABC on October 19th, it held 2118 and had been lavishly appointed.

Tripling caused the next closure - from May to November 1972. The rear circle became 650-seat screen 1 with the stalls split into screen 2 (390 seats) and 3 (187 seats). All had bland unadorned decor. Renamed Cannon in 1986 and Safari in the late 1990s, the cinema closed in 2004 and was torn down in March/April 2005.

Closure

The Cinema closed its doors to customers in 2004, primarily because of opening of a Warner Village cinema (now Vue) in the Croydon Grants entertainment venue. The opening of this new cinema resulted in an increase in competition due to the new cinema's location close to the busy retail thoroughfare of North End. Safari had been known as a Bollywood cinema, showing many Bollywood films as well as Hollywood blockbusters. Subsequent to the closure, Warner Village reserved one screen in the multiplex specifically for Bollywood films [ [http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/search/display.var.307573.0.housing_planned_for_bollywood_cinema_site.php Housing Planned For Bollywood Cinema Site (from This Is Local London) ] ]

The decision to demolish the cinema did not proceed without controversy, with local residents and prior customers of the cinema remarking that the cinema "is the last of the historic cinemas from the Golden Age left in Croydon." [ [http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/search/display.var.256721.0.dream_almost_over_for_safari_cinema.php Dream Almost Over For Safari Cinema (from Croydon Guardian) ] ]

Land Usage

Developers plan to demolish the 1930s building and replace it with 138 apartments, including 52 key worker shared-ownership flats. The plan was dependent on the issuance of planning permission. This was duly granted and at the time of writing (September 2007) development of the site is underway. Overstrand Ltd are the current owners of the site, with Ian Hutchinson as the developer.

Subsequently, the developers applied to Croydon Council for permission to construct 47 additional apartments on the site of the derelict Total/Elf/Fina petrol station also on London Road.

References