West Bromwich's last traditional cinema to be demolished within weeks, 50 years after it opened, as part of £15 million redevelopment scheme
A Black Country town's last traditional cinema will be demolished in early 2026 after 50 years.
Bulldozers will move onto the site of the former King's Cinema in Paradise Street, West Bromwich, within the next few weeks once decommissioning work is completed.
It will form part of a £15 million redevelopment plan to revitalise the area.
Contractors moved onto the site at the start of last month (December), and have been stripping the interior of the building.
Once cleared,. Sandwell Council will be looking for a private partner to redevelop the site. But a council spokesman said previous plans for 15-storey 'wellbeing tower' block of flats, with trees and bushes incorporated into the fabric of the building, were no longer being pursued.
Councillor Peter Hughes, Sandwell Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Infrastructure, said: “Demolition is an important step forward in the redevelopment of this site, alongside neighbouring vacant sites, as part of the West Bromwich masterplan.
“The council will be working to procure a development partner to bring these sites forward for new housing and commercial or retail use.”
There has been a cinema on the site since The Plaza opened in 1927, replacing the Empire Theatre, and was renamed The Kings in 1957 after being taken over by picture-house magnate Miles Jervis III. It was demolished and rebuilt as West Bromwich's first three-screen cinema in 1975, at a time when the industry was on the wane.
It closed on September 8, 2002, with screenings of Spy Kids and The Guru.
The only cinema now left in West Bromwich is the five-screen Odeon at the New Square shopping centre, which opened in July , 2013.
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