Show on mapThere is much conflicting information on this site, so any local knowledge would help.
The Evening Gazette claims the building originally opened in 1911 as the Grand Electric Theatre , becoming known as the Pavilion Picture Palace in 1915 (or maybe 1914). It closed as a cinema in 1963 (or maybe 1960). It was known as the Playbarn in the 1970s and is now once again a community centre called the Pavilion.
However the Theatre Trust say its dates from 1906, became a cinema in 1916, closed in the mid-1950s and became a bingo hall.
The community centre was refurbished in 2006 which is when the current outside decoration probably dates from.
UPDATE : Demolished 23rd August 2013
My mother grew up in North Ormesby and is certain it was still open as a cinema in 1962.
Back in the 90s I ran an ‘outreach’ course from the job I was doing training people to use Apple Macs for Desktop Publishing in the Pav.
At that time it still had the sloped balcony with seats removed and desks in their place. It had been walled in with windows looking down into what were the stalls.
It was open as a cinema in the early 60s. I also frequented it a couple of times when it became a bingo hall. I don’t know how long for, but when the bingo finished,those who wanted to,could stay and watch the feature film showing afterwards. This was very popular at the time. I’m sure this building could be sourced for some other use, and stop the developer’s from destroying a little bit more of our shrinking history.
I go to pav and today the building is getting knoked down and all our memories we realy want that to stay up but the council are so nasty. But our comunty still lives on sumwere else in the hub.
I was born and bred in North Ormesby…..Uncle Billy and his wife Margaret Wieghtman ran the Pav as a cinima until 1963….for the next ten years they ran it as a bingo hall…
I went to Saturday Morning Pictures there in the 1940’s when my grandparents had a grocers shop in Peaton Street.
Billy Weightman was my Grandfather and I have fond memories of running down the aisles when the place was empty.
The mosaic images shown in the photos were designed and created by a friend of mine Paul Jones. He ran a series of art workshops with the young people from the pav where they all painted individual squares to come together into the large images seen here. I wonder if the mosaics were kept somewhere, it would be a shame if they were demolished too?
Cinema was originally a music hall owned by John Weightman who showed films as part of the show. It finally became a cinema. During and after the War until his death in 1965 it was run by John’s eldest son Sydney Weightman with his younger brother William. As cinema declined in popularity it became a Bingo Hall and was closed about 1974. John Weightman was a pioneer in cinema in Middlesbrough and his interest in technology made him an accomplished operator in the new technology. He also had cinemas in Hartlepool and Darlington. His son Sydney remembered that as a child he went with his father to put on magic lantern shows in local villages. John had trained as a cabinet maker but became interested first in bicycles And then in cameras. Job died about 1956. Hours