Regent (Odeon) Cinema, 44 Holmeside, Sunderland

Plans for Sunderland's largest kinema, which Black Brothers are to build in Holmside on the site of the present Ring and Stadium, at a cost of £130,000. have just been approved by the Corporation. It is expected that building operations will begin in August. The new kinema will be a handsome structure, reinforced concrete and brick, with asbestos tile roofing. Its entrance, a palatial tower 50 feet in height. constructed of marble, of an exceptionally beautiful design, will constitute one of the architectural features of the town. This entrance will give access first to a foyer and then to a lounge spacious enough to allow the largest audiences to wait under cover. The ground floor will be virtually 112 feet. square, and seating accommodation provided for 1.750 people; the auditorium, therefore, will be the largest in the town. In the balcony there will be room for another 708 persons, making the total seating capacity 2.518. Adjoining the balcony there will be a foyer. There will be eight exits from the stalls and four from the balcony. The operating box will be outside the actual auditorium. Provision will be made In the plans for the three-dimension screen. Space for an orchestra is also to be provided. Adjoining the kinema is to be an up-to-date ballroom. Messrs Gray and Evans of Liverpool are the architects. Kinematograph Weekly - Thursday 5 June 1930 page 101]

SUNDERLAND - The steel framework of the new super which is being erected on the site of the old Rink, Holmeside, Sunderland, for Black Brothers, is nearing completion and rising many feet higher than the other buildings in the vicinity. The theatre, which was planned by Gray and Evans, of Liverpool, will cost about £130,000. B. and J. Rankin, of Sunderland are the main contractors. [The Bioscope - Wednesday 8 April 1931 page 57]