PRESS RELEASE 

November 2009

Leicester Square´s Iconic Cinema Heritage at Serious Risk

New developments are dire disappointment

What is happening to Leicester Square? Each year the centre of film for London and the Nation hosts 50 global film premiers attracting up to 50 million people to this phenomenally popular area of London. But the Square as we have grown to know and love it is now under threat. Although it is supposedly protected by its Conservation Area status, buildings of value are coming down and being replaced by banal or inappropriate structures. Leicester Square will be a very different and anonymous place if nothing is done soon.

First to come down was the Swiss Centre with the wonderfully kitsch Glockenspiel on its curving façade facing into the Square. Everyday when the clock struck, the 27 bells and dancing figurines of this landmark would move into action on their cleverly orchestrated mechanical system delighting scores of young and old, foreign and local with a variety of 200 tunes. But the new structure by Jestico + Whiles that has been pulled up in its place and was promised by Westminster Council to provide London with a new iconic structure and hail in an era of regeneration for one of London´s busiest public places, has failed to impress. The building´s 11 storey glass wall is dull and ordinary – a lost opportunity in this prime location.

The next building on the list is the old Leicester Square Theatre as it was originally called, the other Odeon on the Square. It was built in 1930 by the famous cinema architect Andrew Mather and in its glory days this cinema could seat up to 1750 people. Like so many cinemas on the square it is the historic façade that is left – the interior having been changed over and over again throughout the years. But this building is now to go as well and all permissions are in place. Meanwhile the replacement building promises to be a dire disappointment. The architects Make have designed what looks like a nine storey stainless steel clad wobbly layer cake. There is still a cinema in the basement – a token gesture to the location – but the rest is again hotel accommodation.

Eva Branscome of the Cinema Theatre Association is seriously concerned: "None of the cinemas in Leicester Square are protected through statutory listing. The Empire, the Vue (formerly Warner) and even the flagship Odeon could be next in line for demolition – all in the name of ’regenerating‘ one of London´s busiest and best liked locations. This is a senseless destruction of our cinema heritage!"

Ends