The Elite Building used to be a cinema but now houses many other businesses such as a nightclub and a variety of different shops. It was one of Nottingham’s “super-cinemas” designed by the London architectural firm of Adamson & Kinns and opened on 22 August 1921 with Mary Pickford in Pollyanna. The interior, which I’ve never seen myself and no doubt has changed considerably, included a restaurant, tea room and a ballroom, not to mention the cinema area having a concert organ and space for a full orchestra.
The first “talkie” film in Nottingham was shown here – George Jessel in Lucky Boy in 1929. It was taken over by ABC Cinemas in 1935 and finally closed as a cinema in 1977.
At the top of the building were many interesting sculptures, some of which you can see below. However most of these have been removed – during restoration of the building earlier in the year (the building was bought for around £3 million in March by a development company) some of them were found to be dangerously unsafe. My understanding is that they have been preserved but newer statues of the same design will be put back in their place.
You can find some more photos here.
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