The old Savoy cinema was class

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

The new Star Wars film will apparently be the last film to be shown in Savoy 1 before they commit the sacrilegious act of breaking it up into a few different screens.

How the hell is it not considered a protected structure?



Screen 2 was broken up into a few screens recently enough also and the screens are abysmal. Soulless echo chambers with uncomfortable seats.

I know it's all been done for financial reasons but there has to be another way. These people have to be stopped.

tl;dr

THEY'RE GOING TO KILL SAVOY 1!!

They've been talking about it for a while now. Shocking news if they have made the decision. Any decent source for this news Pete?

I hope the Stella thing works out. As for the Savoy, it's owners are trapped in an ever decreasing race to the bottom since Multiplexes arrived in Ireland and in particular Dublin City Centre. It had two of the best auditoriums in Ireland - Savoy 1 and 2. 2 got subdivided a couple of years ago, so it was a matter of time before they looked at screen 1. The Savoy failed miserably to market screen 1 combined with a generation that don't mind the completely sterile multiplex experience. My father has his memories of a single screen Savoy and I have mine of its fairly decent late 70s/early 80s reincarnation. Although all screens beyond 1 and 2 were awful. Thankfully I got to show my daughter a decent cinema experience in Savoy 1.

I have had the pleasure of several years of free access to the entire building, from basements to roof and behind the scenes and it is a total maze. I even brought a manager into an area that he didn't even know about.
What amazes me most is that it is still actually standing. A lot of the upper ffloors were in very poor condition.

wakka12 wrote: »

I would say the ways of stella are a better way forward for cinemas. I can't imagine multiplexes being able to sustain themselves with online movies being so popular currently. I think one or two really nice comfortable screens would have a much better profit/expense ratio for cinema owners than having 12 massive almost empty screens

I know a couple of families that would disagree with you.
Between them they have over 40 multi screen cinemas and appear to be doing quite well, as do the Odeon brand.

jungleman wrote: »

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This reminded me of the Ambassador whilst it was still a cinema. Remember watching the Titanic in it, with the door to the front left being the toilets & smoking area where everyone went to during the half-way break

Kairi Loose Azalea wrote: »

I go to the Savoy about three times a month and avoid screen 1 at all costs. I even prefer Screen 9. I don't get the "might as well close it down" comments at all. There are only three big commercial multiplexes in the city centre. Odeon is not central and I find it has limited options outside blockbusters and kids films. Cineworld is well priced but very tatty and overrun with scumbags anytime I've been there.

I don't thin I've been to the Savoy since the Ambassador closed, tbh. Went to either Cineworld or Screen cinema. Heck, I probably saw more films in the last 20 years at the Sugar Club, than I saw in the Savoy!

The main reasons were the amount of scum there seemed higher than Cineworld, and the films were at awkward times that didn't suit me. It also just looked minging.

Desiree Noisy Flannel wrote: »

Grafton Street has lost most of its character and just looks like any European shopping street now. I was in there on Christmas Eve and couldn't believe how unfestive it looked. Brown Thomas was the only shop who had made any real effort, and the place was full of buskers and groups singing diddley eye music instead of Christmas carols. Really dreary and disappointing.

Well..I can think of a lot of streets in dublin that need improvement before Id go changing grafton street :pac:
Grafton streets still a nice street. It has no dereliction,its pretty clean,its very safe, it has some nice shops and buildings, it always has a buzz about it
Makes it better than the majority of dublin streets for these reasons

Kairi Loose Azalea wrote: »

I understand people feeling sad at seeing a piece of history come to an end and I feel like I too should feel sad for its loss, but the reality is that I hate Savoy 1 and won't miss it in the slightest. The Ambassador on the other hand was a huge loss I think. A beautiful cinema.

I think Savoy 1 is an awful place to see a film. You can't see the bottom of the screen properly from many of the seats, you can hear noise from the toilets at the back, and the staff traipsing up and down the side aisle to go in and out a door beside the screen is head wrecking. I go to the Savoy about three times a month and avoid screen 1 at all costs. I even prefer Screen 9. I don't get the "might as well close it down" comments at all. There are only three big commercial multiplexes in the city centre. Odeon is not central and I find it has limited options outside blockbusters and kids films. Cineworld is well priced but very tatty and overrun with scumbags anytime I've been there.

I've been going to Savoy 1 since the late 70s and cannot agree with your opinions on it considering most of your issues with it are easily solved. The toilet issue you speak of is more a case of todays cinema goers having feck all respect. I often sat in the back row pullman seats (in the day) and had no problem with any noise from the toilets. In fact they were quite posh toilets within an auditorium for a long time! You don't see that anymore. But as you appear to be a multiplex generation type, I assume you don't mind a further sub division. The Savoy wasn't built as a multiplex and it will shortly resemble an absolute mess of a place once Screen 1 bites the dust. Sad when you consider the Foyer was restored to resemble its original design.

All that said, I'm from a Generation that first visited the Savoy just after its first sub division. It was still a great cinema then, like the Adelphi in Abbey Street and its Screen 1. Nowadays purpose built multiplexes are literally sterile joints with identical auditoriums and very average so called big screens.

Kairi Loose Azalea wrote: »

I know you mean "multiplex generation" as an insult, but really, you needn't bother. In fact the Savoy is the only multiplex I attended until Ster Century opened in Liffey Valley. I simply find the cinema experience of Screen 1 to be poor and don't remember it ever being good. I've been attending since the early 80s. I always loved the Ambassador - beautiful and a good experience. I have no particular desire to see Savoy 1 subdivided, I just won't miss it as it's an awful place to watch a film. And that's supposed to be the point of it.

We'll agree to differ on our opinions in relation to screen 1 and I'll admit you are perhaps the first one I've heard that opinion from, but I must say that the phrase multiplex generation was not intended to be an insult to you or anyone else. I am merely saying that there is a large portion of our population that know nothing beyond the purpose built multiplex experience and that the Savoy 1 (our differences aside) is the last example of a large auditorium/screen still in use in Ireland.

smurgen wrote: »

It's the same with patrick street in cork.half the street is filled with ecig and mobile phone shops,most don't even look like legitimate businesses.north main street then in cork could possibly be the most depressing street in ireland.

To add to the general feeling of neglect, the illuminated Xmas decorations that originally read:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS NORTH MAIN STREET
read
HAPPY C RI IMAS NOI H MAIN STREF