To spot The Belmont Cinema, look for a sturdy granite building with a big blue sign overhead, glowing red “CINEMA” letters, and colourful posters inviting you in-right in front of you on Belmont Street!
Imagine you’re back in 1896, when this building was brand new and buzzing-not with the sounds of popcorn but fiery debates and working-class hopes, as it opened its doors as Aberdeen’s Trades Council Hall. Designed by the city’s own Alexander Ellis and Robert Gordon Wilson, this spot became a gathering place for the young labour movement. If you listen hard enough, maybe you’ll catch a faint cheer from an old trade unionist-or just someone who found the secret biscuit stash! But not long after, in 1898, the magic of movies landed here, starting with flickering scenes of Queen Victoria herself at Balmoral Castle. That must have been quite the blockbuster for Victorian film fans!
By 1910, the building swapped debates for nonstop matinees as the Coliseum cinema, and soon changed names as often as a movie villain escapes-first New Kinema in 1921, then Belmont Cinema in 1935. After taking a detour as a warehouse, the magic returned in 2000, when the council revived it as part of a grand restoration, even with a little help from the National Lottery. Through owner dramas worthy of the big screen-Picturehouse, Cineworld, then the Centre for the Moving Image-it survived every plot twist.
Even after it closed its doors in 2022, cinephiles rallied like the heroes in an underdog film, vowing to bring it back. Now, as a grade C listed building, this historic cinema is set for a new sequel-Belmont Community Cinema Ltd is working to reopen these doors and fill them with light, laughter, and maybe a few spilled drinks, late 2024. So, next time you visit, you can say you stood outside before the next premiere rolled.
