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Regal / Odeon / Scala Corporation Street, Rotherham. 
 Location On the west side near the junction with Bridge Street (Chantry Bridge) and Frederick Street, in 1934 Thomas Wade, Chairman of construction company Thos. Wade & Sons Ltd of Wath-upon-Dearne had, along with his three sons, formed Thos. Wade's Cinema Ltd to build the Regal - an enormous ultra-modern picture theatre to eclipse all others in the town and competition was now to 'hot up' in a grand style. Thomas Wade had previously built cinemas in Wath-upon-Dearne and Swinton in South orkshire. The Building It is said that a section of the River Don had to be diverted before the foundations could be laid on the old river bed. The story continues that extra-thick walls were necessary to keep out the incessant pounding of numerous neighbouring forge steam hammers across the river on Forge Island. The Regal was constructed around a steel framed structure capable of supporting the whole fully occupied theatre weight independent of the brick walls which added their own extra strength. In less than six months the super-cinema and café were completed. Built of red brick although in more recent years a large part of its frontage had been painted white. Main Contractors Interior The Auditorium The grand circle was entered via a central vomitorium where the seating extended upwards in stadium (stepped) style back over the circle foyer right to the back wall. The rear wall of the circle had large curtained windows. 
Looking towards the stage, the splay walls had large vertical decorative grilles above the exit doors and concealed lighting to illuminate the rectangular proscenium opening. In front of the stage was a curved orchestra pit with steps at each end for access to the stage. In the centre of the orchestra pit was a Conacher organ on a motorised lift with the console keyboard coupled to a phantom grand piano on stage - the Regal's pride and joy. To top off this luxurious setting, the ceiling had a large circular 'starlight' dome with concealed lighting around its outer rim and an ornate art-deco centre-piece. Projection Room The Opening "Girls Please" - 1934 UK B/W 73 mins.After the opening night, a second feature film was added for the Christmas week . . . "Student Tour" - 1934 USA B/W 87 mins. The Conacher Organ Dando was soon to make his first BBC broadcast of the Conacher in April 1935 with several more to follow. The Regal Conacher was the first cinema organ in Rotherham. Take-overs and New 'Odeon' Name By 1948/49 with Odeon Theatres now part of CMA (Circuit Management Association Ltd) the prices were 1/-d to 3/6d and the first floor café was still in use. CinemaScope The first motion picture in CinemaScope Prices were now 1/3 to 3/6 (inc. tax). This was the very first anamorphic widescreen showing in Rotherham though other cinemas were to follow later. The Conacher organ was no longer used and boarded over at the installation of the CinemaScope screen and seating reduced again to 1815 due to the larger screen. In 1962 the Odeon's admission prices had risen to 2/6d/ to 4/-d and the café now advertised as a full restaurant though this was later to close and be replaced by the Victor Sylvester Ballroom dance studio. In October 1967 the Conacher organ was brought back to life after extensive refurbishment and organ recitals returned. The café area had now become the Court School of Dancing. A.V Morris was to continue as manager unti the early 1970's. The Odeon was closed as a cinema on Saturday 29th November 1975 and a new owner was to take over. Anecdotal Story "The forges (on Forge Island) worked shifts in the late 1930's and early 1940's and, thanks to the local substratum, the hammers could be felt rather than heard in the auditorium, especially in the best balcony seats. I can remember the tremor quite well but don't remember being put off by the sensation; it may have even added to the ambience in some films. In any case, as a wartime teenager, the earth moving was a regular sensation not least in the back row of the cinema."Eric went on to recall that prices in the 1930's were . . . "Front stalls 6d, rear stalls 9d and balcony 1/-d for this very posh cinema"and points out that other Rotherham cinemas were "more reasonable in price given that a typical craftsman's weekly wage circa 1940 was £3.15s.0d for 49 hours". Now Scala - A New Era Whilst other cinemas of this size around the country were being 'twinned' or even 'drop-wall tripled', it was a credit to Owen Firth that he did not do that to the Regal/Odeon/Scala building. As audiences slumped he cut costs by closing (ie. not using) the stalls and concentrating the audience in the circle which now had a limited capacity of 728 seats. Organ interludes and special organ concerts were re-introduced plus the promise of live stage shows though very few of the latter ever took place. Meanwhile, the former café-cum-ballroom was now operating as Walker's Dance Studios and by 1980 a slot machine games arcade had been established in the foyer. Organ Recordings Lease Changes Cinema Closure "Porky's" - 1982 USA Color 99 mins.for which all seats were advertised at only £1 each. The first floor Dance Studio continued to operate and a new video store opened in the stalls foyer. Owen Firth's companies Twainville Ltd and DOF Leisure were dissolved in 1988 and 1987 respectively. Bingo Afterlife The Conacher organ had since been removed and last known (in 2004) to be in storage in Alsager in Cheshire. This website was originally produced in 2004 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Regal/Odeon/Scala once Rotherham's largest and finest cinema building. Colour photos taken by and copyright of Colin Sutton. May not be copied or reproduced without permission.
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In order to accommodate the maximum number of seats in the grand circle, the compact projection room was constructed at the rear of the stalls to accommodate two Kalee projectors and the latest Western Electric "wide range" sound reproducing system.
By Monday 1st April 1935, the Regal company Regal Super Cinema (Rotherham) Ltd was taken over by London & Southern Circuit. Seating was reduced to 1825. During the second World War it was leased to Odeon Theatres with A.V Morris as manager. In 1946 the name was changed to Odeon.
The premises were promptly re-opened on Monday 1st December 1975 by an independent company comprising Twainville Ltd of Derby and DOF Leisure Ltd whose managing director, Owen Firth, was to make some important and sweeping changes. Firth's first task was to rename the cinema to Scala and to resurrect the Conacher organ involving much restoration work.