During March 2009, Bournemouth Community Church (BCC) took ownership of the Gala bingo hall in Wimborne Road. Though the building will be used by BCC for their Sunday meetings and evening youth groups, the plan is to turn the building into a place that can be used for a variety of different uses by people throughout the local business and public community.
Since that time work has moved on at pace. The hard work of skilled personnel and a large volunteer work force has enabled Lifecentre to get a good head start in its transformation to a multi-functioning resource for both business and community in Winton and Moordown.
At ’See the Change’ we will be keeping up with developments as they happen, and would encourage you, the people of Winton and Moordown to have a say by leaving your thoughts and comments at the bottom of the posts.
Check back soon as we roll out the updates.
Tags: bcc, bingo, bournemouth, church, cinema, community, gala, meeting
What a great idea to keep the community up to date with what is happening to this historic building.
Great work
It’s good to hear the Lifecentre building will continue to be a facility that is available to the whole community.
YES Greg ! ! I agree that it is an – - Absolutely Fantastic idea – that, the local community(Winton/Moordown can look in at this web-site and express their views regarding what is happening in the heart of their community and be involved and ask Questions/make sugestions.! after all we are Called Bournemouth COMMUNITY Church
Really COOL !
Hi, being a regular to the Moderne in its hay day as a Cinema, I am so pleased at last that the Bingo Hall has been taken over by your group, and more pleased to read that it is intended to include a smaller cinema within the building. I represent as a member a website that deals in all aspects of the Cinema old and new, and I have personally kept a thread going on the Moderne Cinema, and now its present makeover. I shall be keeping a close eye on the up dates, and adding them to the forum to keep others updated. Good Luck, and looking forward to its completion.
I think this is a great site and I will continue to try and find it to keep uptodate with the progress of the conversion. I don’t know who put the original pictures on but it was really fascinating to see The Moderne in it’s hey day. I have only lived in Bournemouth for 45 years so did not go to the cinema there but the thought of having another cinema again in Moordown is terrific. It will be a great boost to Moordown I am sure and hopefully the Traders will benefit as well.
I look forward to seeing more as the development continues.
Well we are in to a New Year and BOY !! ! — it’s REALLY exciting to see the old going away in skips and the Building getting a NEW loving face lift ?
Looking at the latest photographs, it is good to see work progressing so well. As I keep a forum on local cinemas, in particular the Moderne (as it was), I am eager to find out how and what is happening regarding the new cinema at the refurbished complex of the BCC. Anyone can review my link below on the Moderne Cinema from the beginning by inserting this link into your browsers.
Kind Regards
Chris Way
http://ted62.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=town&action=display&thread=178
Chris – I’ve just visited your Moderne website and read the last 2 years discussions you and your friends have been having about the Moderne. You are clearly passionate about the cinema…as in fact I am.
Fundamentally this complex will be a multi purpose facility for the community and Bournemouth Community Church and Phase 2 – which should start in the summer – will start the work on creating a large 1000 seater auditorium upstairs – extending beyond the existing balcony across the length of the main hall. This will have a large screen and excellent sound system and certainly my aim, as the manager of the LIFEcentre, will be to at least run Saturday cinema clubs aimed at a family audience. I have already been in contact with Filmbank in London about licences for showing films before they go to DVD but just after they have hit the main cinemas…a bit like they do at The Regent in Christchurch.
Funding is a big issue for us and so that may well delay work on Phase 2 until well into 2011.
Phase 1 will be new frontage and interior including the long entrance passageway, large main lobby and the upper foyer that we are restoring back to its original structure (including all new chrome bannisters as per the 30′s) – we have removed the studwork offices (that faced you as you came up the main stairs) so all the columns are exposed and this will have art deco work and lighting more akin to the original – no modern flourescents stuck on the ceiling but all hidden lighting as it was originally.
We are keeping the porthole doors and wanting to restore to a walnut finish instead of the blue painted efforts that are there now.
Latest images of the upper foyer will be uploaded soon.
With your contacts do you have any interior and exterior images of the Moderne in the 40′s. 50′s,60′s, 70′s…I cannot find hardly any and we want to frame these images int the new Starbucks style coffee bar that will be going in Phase 1.
Target for competeing Phase 1 is May this year!!!
Keep in touch Chris
I will endeavour to search out and find pictures of the Moderne as requested. I wish there was more was of raising funds for this wonderful project in order to ensure that you get the project completed as you describe. It will be fantastic to have a cinema again at the Moderne Complex. I am sure a licence will be given when requested. 1000 seats is great news also, considering what you are doing within the whole project and the original cinema was of 1500 seats.
I have seen the picture posted in the Winton Forum that was found in the attic space of the building, “Annette”. I am wondering if it is a characture picture of Annette Funicello, born in 1942, and was one of the original Walt Disney Mouseketeers. She also appeared in a number of Disney films in the 50s and 60s, such as The Shaggy Dog, Babes in Toyland, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Monkey’s Uncle. The picture could have been part of a memrobilia set in association with the films being shown. The characture picture does in someways resemble Annette Funicello when she was dancing Swan Lake on a 50s TV programme, of the Mouseketeers.
Probably miles away, but it is worth a shot.
Regards, Chris Way
Good to hear from you again Chris – an interesting theory about Annette – could be right – sadly there are no clues behind the picture and nothing else near where it as found.
Any photos will be really welcome as we want to make a montage of all the old posters, images of films shown at the Moderne along with shots of real local people inside and outside the building over the last 70 years
Keep in touch.
Chris: regarding the painting of ‘Annette’. I doubt it is of Annette Funicello for the simple reason that Ms Funicello didn’t appear on screen until she was 14 in 1956. The girl in the painting is clearly much younger than this. That said, I have absolutely no suggestions as to who she might be.
What I can say is that it is fantastic news that the old Moderne will once again be, at least part time, a working cinema. I have never been inside the building and never thought I would see the day. This is just what Bournemouth needs, and hopefully it won’t be restricted to just showing current films, but could also host occasional showings of classics which really deserve to be seen on as big a screen as possible.
I’m also hoping that, with an auditorium that size, the expense of installing a proper CinemaScope curved screen will be considered worthwhile. Otherwise on that scale there will be distortion of the image at the sides of the screen. Whatever, it will be fantastic to have a proper really big cinema screen back in town in addition to the two remaining good screens on Westover Road.
Sadly the more I read into Annette Funicello, I am beginnin to think the same, and that the picture is of a much younger girl (if it is a picture of an actual person). It could be just a characture picture of just a figure, either for advertising. My search continues in hope of finding something.
Yes it will be fantastic to be able to see films at the new modern looking Moderne, and I agree that a curved screen would be advantageous in that proximity. I am hoping, within the realms of the Bournemouth Churches that the cinema will be based on a similar sort of set up as at the Regent in Christchurch, where not only films are shown, but other entertainment is also made available.
Certainly, what ever comes forward, will be a great addition to Winton and surrounding area.
Regards, Chris
Well, I have made contact with a number of Film Websites, Home Cinema Websites, etc, and to date have come up with nothing on the “Annette” picture. I shall not give up, as I beleive it must have something to do with the Moderne Cinema as it was, and/or film or catering within that business. I shall keep on trying, something has got to come up soon.
Regards, Chris
I have continued my search for anything on “Annette”, and have today come across a singer/actress by the name of “Annette Hanshaw”, and on one of the clips I found she was singing in a 1933 short film, “Captain Henry’s Showboat”, based on the NBC Radio Show, Maxwells House Showboat. I will coninue the search as each corner finds something different.
Hi again. Continuing my research into the picture characterture of “Annette”, I have come across what could be a possibility. The silent screen actress/comedienne, Barbara Kent, who appeared in films between the years of 1925 and 1935. Her film, The Small Bachelor, made in 1927, being shown as the first film ever screened at the Moderne. Sadly there is no proof of the picture being of her, but similarities are evident. Could be the best choice so far.
Not hearing from anyone, or seeing updates on the website, I was pleased to find out that the new project will be opening in November. Is there any news or ideas as to when the Cinema will be showing a programme of films for public viewing. There is a lot of interest around the community on this idea. Look forward to hearing from you.