The Picturedrome

The Family went to see War Horse yesterday at the Picturedrome in Bognor Regis.

The Picturedrome opened in May 1886 at the cost of £4,500 as the town's new assembly rooms. With a main hall and a small upstairs hall, it was used for a variety of functions including stage shows, dancing, roller-skating, badminton, community functions, and films from 1887.

The building's most prominent feature of the building is the octagonal lantern tower, which at one time housed a revolving light, operated by a boy pedalling a bicycle-type mechanism that advertised its presence miles around.

The cinema has had a chequered history; facing many challenges over the years it has been open, including changes of ownership, a fire and competition from other venues.

The latest threat comes from a planned development on the seafront for a multi-screen cinema, bars and restaurants to enhance and more importantly, save, the town's only remaining theatre.

Heated debate rages on in the local paper, its website and in the town - save the theatre, yes - a battle that has been going on since the early 1990s, but should it be at the expense of another fiercely supported enterprise?