The Classrooms Archives - Old Glasgow Pubs

520 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. G 3 3LW. Closed.

The Blanket. 2005.

In 1895 a red sandstone ashlar surround with Greek detailing by David Paton Low. Single storey addition above of circa 1897 by Bruce & Hay. In the late 1890s the Albany Place feus were extended to the north and south to permit frontages on to Sauchiehall Street and Renfrew Street. Thomas Ewing, a piano seller, commissioned David Paton Low to create a single-storey salon fronting on to Sauchiehall Street and linking back to his lodgings at 5 Albany Place. Initially named Albany Galleries, it later became Ewing Galleries.

In 1897 Bruce & Hay were commissioned by Ewing to extend his premises to the rear towards Renfrew Street. A large rooflit hall for performances was linked to the rear of Albany Place. At the same time the Sauchiehall Street elevation was raised by a storey to accommodate a small salon at 1st floor level.

In 1912 the building became a cinema, the Vitagraph (later, the King’s Cinema), with major (principally internal) alterations carried out by John Fairweather in 1914. A lounge and tearoom were created within the Sauchiehall side. It is now a bar and nightclub. The Cinema Theatre Association website notes that “As a cinema, it originally seated around 625 in stalls and circle. Renamed the King’s Cinema in 1914, and additional interior renovations were carried out in 1931.

In 1954 it was the Newscine, a dedicated newsreel cinema, now seating 450. This venture was short-lived, and it started showing full features again, as the Newscine, from 1955. It became the Curzon in 1960, and the Classic in 1964. The building ended its days as a cinema in 1984 as the Tatler Cinema Club”. References and Notes updated as part of Cinemas Thematic Study 2007-08. (Historic Scotland.)