A REGAL HISTORY
The Regal Theatre Picture House
The Regal first opened its doors to the public in July 1938, when the Regal Theatre Picture House brought the ‘talkies’ to Bathgate. Construction involved a host of local tradesmen and the art deco design was by architect A. D. Haxton of Leven, executed in the ‘moderne’ style that was in vogue at the time. The façade, rendered in cement stucco, was enhanced by coloured neon tubing, as was the underside of the canopy, and floodlit from above. Haxton-designed Regal cinemas were also built in Broxburn, West Calder and in Armadale, whose Regal was strikingly similar in design to its Bathgate counterpart.
The North Bridge St cinema incorporated the latest in auditorium design. A contemporary newspaper account describes it thus:
“The interior of the building has been designed with a brilliance that is strikingly arresting, walls and ceilings having floral designs with the whole lining coloured in rose tints and gold bronzing. The proscenium surround is finished in various shades of gold, which gives full value to the changing colours of lights which play across the moulded face of the surround”
Two decorative panels made of fibrous plasterwork depicting in bas relief, a charioteer, chariot and horse are of some historic and artistic significance, being the last surviving work of this type by John Alexander, who designed the interior. At the time of the original opening of the cinema there was a delay of a few days to allow the magistrates to determine whether or not the display of naked men on chariots was a fit and proper object for public exhibition.
The cinema boasted tip-up seats, air conditioning and enhanced acoustics. It seated about 1100 people in stalls and balcony. Its large stage not only provided space for a huge screen but also a venue for choir recitals. It was the venue for the annual North British Steel Foundry Male Voice Choir concert and the auditorium has resounded to the voices of Heddle Nash, Kathleen Ferrier and Sir Harry Lauder when he gave a concert there in 1940. The world famous Glasgow Orpheus Choir also performed here under the leadership of Sir Hugh Roberton.
The Regal continued to show films until 1977 when it went out of business. The building re-opened on its 50th anniversary in October 1988 with a showing of the first film to be screened there in 1938. Competition from the small screen eventually robbed even the small cinema of its audiences.
The Regal Community Theatre
West Lothian District Council purchased the building in 1986 with Urban Programme capital funds. It became a Community Resource Centre for an Unemployed Workers' Association set up after the disastrous closure of British Leyland in the town. The building was partially redesigned to accommodate the needs of these new tenants. The council revamped the auditorium by removing all the seating and creating a suite of offices where the balcony had been. Directly below was a small cinema running across the breadth of the building and seating 120 people. The raked floor of the auditorium was levelled and a small theatre, accommodating around 250, was created. By 1992, the Urban Programme money had dried up and the Regal had ceased to operate as a commercial cinema. The building was threatened with demolition.On October 28th. 1993 the Convenor of West Lothian District Council announced to a packed public meeting that the Council had agreed that the local community should have an opportunity to determine the future of the Regal. He asked for representatives of user groups to form a steering group to explore options for the development and management of the building. After a lengthy process, the Council agreed to lease the Regal premises to a newly formed umbrella group of local arts organisations for an initial period of five years from March 1995. This group agreed to form itself into a company limited by guarantee, with charitable status, and The Regal Community Theatre Bathgate Limited, was constituted with a board of directors under the leadership of Margaret Hardy.
