Gosport Borough Council gets the keys to old Criterion Cinema - for £600,000

The Criterion Cinema in Forton Road, Gosport, opened in 1912 and was run as a cinema and theatre until 1968. It became a bingo hall and closed in 2020.

Councillor Peter Chegwyn, leader of the council and the Mayor of Gosport, Cllr Jamie Hutchison, visited the Criterion to accept the keys from the previous owner Kam Patel.

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Cllr Chegwyn said: ‘I'm delighted that we've been able to save Gosport's last surviving cinema and theatre building from demolition.

‘The Criterion is an important and much-loved part of Gosport's history. It's also a building of national significance, being one of Britain's few remaining joint cinema and theatre buildings of the early 20th century.

‘We have exciting plans for bringing this historic building back into public use as a multi-purpose cinema, theatre and live music venue, something which Gosport has never had before.

‘The building is in remarkably good condition given that it has been empty for over two years since its final use as a bingo hall ceased at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

‘Many original features remain and our aim is to restore it to its former glory and provide Gosport with an entertainment venue of which we can be proud.

‘I'm grateful to Mr Patel, the previous owner, for helping the sale go smoothly and for wishing the project well.’

Mr Patel said: ‘The council has a great vision for the building and I believe it will be a great asset for Gosport.’

The £600,000 purchase has been funded from the council's capital fund, for major one-off costs, and will not affect day-to-day spending on services.

The council plans to apply for grants to help with the cost of the project with the hope of opening it to the public in two years.

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Opposing Conservative leader, Cllr Graham Burgess, said: ‘I believe it was sold for 400k less than a year ago - we’ve paid well over the odds.

‘We’ve given 200k and put it into the pockets of a developer.

‘We still haven’t seen a business case or actual costs which have been incurred since May, everything is covered in pink papers.

‘There are plenty of places where the money could be better spent, there’s a lot of leisure facilities, we need lights in our public spaces so women can feel safe at night, the Stokes Bay Splash Park is in need of an upgrade, the new allotments in lee which were eagerly awaited, that’s been removed – £2.16m was taken out of the capital programme and it’s all been used to finance the Criterion.'

The Criterion Cinema has previously been earmarked by the borough council for a future ‘cinema, theatre, live music and arts facility’.

The historic venue opened in 1912 before being taken over by the Shipman and King cinema circuit in the 1960’s.The building was converted into a Crown Bingo hall in 1968 before closing its doors in 2020 due to the pandemic.