Historic Woolwich former cinema extension now underway?
Scaffolding is up on the listed former Granada cinema which has seen approval for extension in a number of places.
The former cinema which faces both Woolwich High Street and Powis Street first saw plans approved in 2018.
Further plans were submitted in 2021 though refused due to a lack of detail on proposed materials.
It’s now the home of a church and named the Ebenezer building.
Perhaps most noticeable will be a new structure on a corner facing the Woolwich ferry roundabout. This will house a commercial unit with a café previously mentioned.
The Woolwich High Street frontage will see windows inserted into the façade alongside an extension to the east, with matching brick and crittall windows.
A rooftop area is planned as seen below.
The application contains a number of rendered images from various angles.
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The main frontage facing Powis Street will not change.
It’s just one of a number of wonderful interwar buildings in this part of Woolwich including another former cinema (Odeon and a Coronet before closing)
Woolwich High Street was once an impressive area, though declined substantially. A road project introducing a dual carriageway did little to help.
Car parking almost always limits both lanes being used.
The expansion looks to improve blank facades as seen in the above view.
A key test is the quality of the materials used in the corner extension.
Pioneering
Granada’s cinema opened in 1937 with its modernist exterior standing in sharp contrast to a gothic-inspired interior by Theodore Komisarjevsky.
With the passing of decades it functioned not only as a cinema but also as a music venue, with The Beatles playing on one occasion.
Later in life it closed and became a bingo hall, as the former Odeon over the road struggled on.
In time both have become churches. The current owner of the Granada purchased the building in 2011 restoring many of the original features.
As I’ve written many a time, I have hope this end of Woolwich can thrive again. Mast Quay should have been the trigger for much more footfall though the rent shenanigans with the developer Comer Homes constructing a building nothing like what was proposed then only submitting changes for planning approval when work was almost complete has done little to aid that.
I go to Woolwich so infrequently these days and don’t get to that end at all, but I do recall a school trip to that old cinema to see a showing of Yellow submarine.
This part of Woolwich has been neglected for sometime so I hope the redevelopment of the old Granada Cinema will help to breathe new life in the bottom.of Powis Strert and neighbouring Hare Street so as John says this area of Woolwich can thrive once again.
Amazing the council has all these millions to do Woolwich up and oh make it look nice , but they can’t find any money to finish of the maisonettes of I sewell Road what has been going on for at least 14/15 years and all.we hear is we are waiting on funding , dont you think it’s time to finish that what you started and what you promised, you have made us watch other estates ie , barnfield, Springfield, cherry orchard , all get revamped bus us ,we don’t exists do we ,thanks Greenwich council and that’s for all you have not done for us in all these years ,