Listed Building: THE HIPPODROME THEATRE AND WALKERS BINGO CLUB, GREEN LANE (1267901)

Variety Theatre, now Bingo Hall. 1914, by Marshall and Tweedy, with minor late C20 alterations. Red brick, rendered and painted below canopy level, with terracotta dressings and a Welsh slate roof. Rectangular form with principal entrance into main foyer at north-east corner. Entry bay with 2 pairs of double doors flanked by double pilasters. East elevation with advanced corner bays flanking central recessed bays. Secondary entrance set back at south end. advanced bays with recessed brickwork bands to corners, recessed bays with advanced brick panel carrying keyed oculi, above 2-light cross windows. Continuous original canopy now obscured by late C20 cladding. North elevation of 10 bays, the first with keyed diocletian window, the next 5 with keyed oculi. Interiors substantially complete; stalls remodelled late C20, but 2 curved balconies above carry tiered seating for circle and upper circle. Stage with rectangular proscenium surmounted by giant segmental pediment motif framing a garland. Flanking the arch at circle level are single boxes framed by giant pilasters which carry serpentine pediments. Richly-decorated plasterwork to balcony fronts, proscenium and ceiling, the latter with circular moulding set into a square frame. Orchestra pit, scenery grid and projection room survive, as does the ceiling plasterwork to the foyer, although concealed beneath a lower, later ceiling. A complete early C20 variety theatre, which represents a significant stage in the evolution of the building type which became the dominant design for cinema construction in the late 1920s.