ODEON Cinema - Newport, Wales - 1938

Of the 258 ODEON Cinemas opened by Oscar Deutsch, less than two dozen were in Wales.

The ODEON Newport is a particularly fine example of one of their most celebrated designs. A variation on the style Cecil Clavering brought to Sutton Coldfield. With its central 'fin' and curved corner entrance, this ODEON was brought to life by Arthur J Price under ODEON’s house architect - Harry Weedon. Price added the supporting piers to the tower and the basket-weave motif to the black and buff faience cladding. One of only four examples of Modernist mid-century architecture in Newport. The others being Maindee Cinema, Maindee Pools and Newport Civic Centre.

The ODEON opened on the 12th of March 1938, showing (pre-Hollywood) Alfred Hitchcock’s Young and Innocent, starring Nova Pilbeam. It entertained audiences for 35 years and served as a cultural hub, showcasing a vast array of films, from British dramas to Hollywood classics, the cinema offered an escape from the everyday world, providing entertainment and escapism during tumultuous times. The cinema closed in 1981 with the final performance of Disney’s The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark with Elliott Gould. Since that time, the building has seen a continuous cavalcade of caretakers and curators for over four decades.

A snooker hall from 1981 to 1991, then stood empty until renovations led to its re-opening as Newport City Live Arena in 2003, hosting gigs by Stereophonics and Basement Jaxx. Unfortunately, the venture was not to last long. Newport City Church occupied the building for just about a year between 2008 and 2009. Briefly a film heritage museum and most recently purchased in 2015 by Andy Byers (whose father was chief projectionist in the 70s) it reopened as NEON in 2016. NEON is now a multifunctional venue offering cinema, live concerts and conference facilities. NEON is a play on ODEON’s Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation - Newport Entertains Our Nation.

Despite some years of neglect, sensitive restoration by concerned caretakers has left the building in good condition quite close to the original design.

My recreation celebrates the influence of all who participated in its inception, building and the hands that carried it through the years to today.