Wednesday 4th March 2020 | 6-8pm | 54 Bell Street
A diorama, circus, ice skating rink, dance hall, cinema, and music venue – only one Glasgow building has done it all.
What we know best as the ABC has kept changing and adapting for nearly 150 years, but one thing has remained constant – its purpose as Sauchiehall Street’s supreme palace of entertainment.
This two-part talk, by www.ScottishCinemas.org duo Gordon Barr and Gary Painter, takes in the full sweep of the history of the ABC, taking the story from the earliest days, the first installation of electric light, the site of Glasgow’s first public demonstration of Moving Pictures, right through to the the devastating fire that changed the face of Sauchiehall Street forever.
This is a building that generations of Glasgwegians have their own memories and stories of, and one that many people feel strongly still has the potential to be regenerated for the future.
As well as the ABC itself, this talk will also tell the connected story of the role of some of Glasgow’s less famous specialist architects and how they turned the second city of the Empire into the Empire’s premiere Cinema City.
Image: © Adrian Brannan
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