Safari Cinema (formerly The Savoy, ABC Croydon and Cannon) was at 225 London Road in Broad Green, Croydon. During part of its life it was owned by the Associated British Cinemas chain.
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Opened on March 9, 1936, the ABC-owned Savoy was designed by William R. Glen and seated 2,300. It was a fair distance from the town centre. Lighting in the large spacious auditorium was entirely indirect, mainly from troughs on the ceiling.
On March 31, 1953 an electrical fault resulted in a fire that totally destroyed the auditorium. Post-war building restrictions were still in force and the repaired Savoy reopened with a utilitarian appearance on December 27, 1953. In July 1958 it closed to allow a more extensive reconstruction to take place. When it reopened as the ABC on October 19, it held 2118 and was lavishly appointed.
Tripling caused the next closure, from May to November 1972. The rear circle became 650-seat screen 1, with the stalls split into screen 2 (390 seats) and 3 (187 seats). All had bland unadorned decor. Renamed Cannon in 1986 and Safari in the late 1990s, the cinema closed in 2004 and was demolished in March/April 2005.
The cinema closed in 2004, primarily because of opening of a Warner Village cinema (now Vue) in the Grants entertainment venue. Safari had been known as a Bollywood cinema, showing many Bollywood films as well as Hollywood blockbusters. After the closure Warner Village reserved one screen in the multiplex for Bollywood films[1]
The decision to demolish the cinema did not proceed without controversy, with local residents and prior customers of the cinema remarking that the cinema "is the last of the historic cinemas from the Golden Age left in Croydon."[2]
Developers plan to demolish the 1930s building and replace it with 138 apartments, including 52 key worker shared-ownership flats. The plan was dependent on the issuance of planning permission. This was duly granted and at the time of writing (September 2007) development of the site is underway. Overstrand Ltd are the current owners of the site, with Ian Hutchinson as the developer.
Subsequently, the developers applied to Croydon Council for permission to construct 47 additional apartments on the site of the derelict Total/Elf/Fina petrol station, also on London Road.
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