Plans submitted for remains of former cinema in Boston

The former Poundstretcher shop, between Natwest and New Horizon.

The remains of the Scala Theatre, above what was Poundstretcher, in Market Place, went under the hammer last year.

For decades, the only way to access that part of the building was through a back room.

For the auction, it was opened up (via a rear door leading out to Silver Street and part of the old Poundstretcher shop) and offered for sale as a potential storage space.

Sketches submitted to the council of the proposed elevations.

The application to the council proposes that windows and a new access be added to the site.

It notes that the theatre is served by just three windows on one side. Sketches submitted as part of the bid show more than 50 windows across three floors. These, the application states, have been designed to match the Victorian wooden windows common in the area.

The application proposes no change to how the building would be used – rooms are labelled as ‘open-plan storage space’.

“This application concerns solely the provision of new windows and doors,” it states. “No change of use of the building is proposed.”

The Scala Theatre (or Picturehouse and Café) was built in 1913 and opened on March 17 the following year. It ran public screenings until early on in the Second World War. After closing on June 29, 1940, it was taken over by the Armed Forces.

After the war, it would go on to be converted into a furniture storeroom. In more recent years, it has been a Poundstretcher, which used the former café for storage.

The discount retailer moved to the old Woolworths and QD store, in Strait Bargate, in 2017.