Since I mentioned the IMAX problem recently, and happened to get another pic from an unusual angle (across the former Prince’s Dock, from the residences built there), I thought the pic had to be included.
And – it’s also got a titanium clad roof, just like the Science Centre, only the IMAX cladding doesn’t seem to suffer from the same goo issue as the centre.
Maybe the seagull poop keeps it a bit cooler 🙂
Glasgow IMAX Theatre
I don’t know when the name officially entered Glasgow’s list of street names (that fact may be recorded in some well buried council minutes), but it has to have happened after the Glasgow Garden Festival, when the derelict land it lives on was recycled after the 1988 festival.
I just can’t get used to it since I don’t associate anything ‘Pacific’ with Glasgow.
It’s not going away any time soon, so I will have to get used to it.
I was crossing Bell’s Bridge (which WAS created as pedestrian access across the River Clyde for the festival), when I happened to turn around a look downriver, and the scene looked have decent and worth reaching for the camera, mainly because the IMAX was almost centre view, and I had recently mentioned it had lost its operating leaseholder, which mean that unless somebody steps in and takes over, all that really there is a cute, but empty, building.
Pacific Quay has interesting residents – STV moved there from Cowcaddens (sorry, that building is off to the left, too far to include in this shot), and ended up next to the competition, as the BBC moved there from its home in Queen Margaret Drive.
So, there’s the BBC on the left, then the (maybe former) IMAX blobby building (it may look odd, but it seemed to suit the IMAX installation), then the Glasgow Science Centre (seemingly as success now after barely being able to attract finding when it opened), the Glasgow Tower (which has been a disaster since the day it was built, and a record holding embarrassment), and finally, rather small since I was standing at the wrong end of this few in terms of scale, the paddle steamer Waverley.
Not ONE of those features is controversy free.
The BBC is constantly beset by whining protestors complaining about it being English, despite the name BBC Scotland.
As noted, the IMAX theatre has just lost its leaseholder.
The science centre was a funding nightmare when it opened, and had to close almost immediately, before being reopened.
The useless tower was bust from the day it opened, and also had to close repeatedly as it turns out the bearing that should have allowed the whole building to rotate with the wind were junk, and had to be replaced. It’s also a bit of a joke, given the number of people that can get into the lift (if/when it works) and make the trip to the top for the view. Somebody did NOT think this thing through, and the words ‘Vanity Project’ flit through my mind when I see it nowadays.
The poor old Waverley, the last sea-going paddle steamer, has to constantly beg for funds since ticket sales don’t make enough to fund her, and sadly, she seems drawn to piers as if by a magnet, and crashes with some regularity, losing paying days while in dock, possibly being sued for injuries, all of which means the economics must be a nightmare.
Seriously – why can’t I write about all of those items in terms of success and profit, instead of being able to think of only bad things seen in the news?
Oh well…
At least it’s a nice pic.
And, again, I’m sorry it was the taken from the wrong ‘end’, and the Waverley was the smallest and furthest away subject.
Pacific Quay
I was never a great cinemagoer once I became a ‘grown-up’ – no idea why, it just never happened.
As a tiny, it seems I was always in Ayr (taken there for summer holiday) when the Bond films started, and were released, as it seems to remember seeing them all there, as a special treat (since I was well below the age to get in to see them then).
I also recall going to see Star Wars while in Glasgow, in a now no longer existent cinema in Sauchiehall Street, during a quit period in my studies – entry was still cheap, and I spent a few afternoons catching less well-known films around the same time.
Although I’ve never been (back) to Glasgow’s IMAX, I did get a free look at the place, and saw a film there, at an event held prior to the official opening (which was way back in 2001).
This was handy, as a trip to an IMAX theatre back then meant a 300+ mile trip to the Science Museum in Bradford – which was then different, and had a different name too.
Like many venues, the IMAX theatre had to close as part of the pandemic lockdown, but it seems Operator Cineworld is not going to renew its lease, and the facility will NOT reopen along with Cineworld’s other venues.
Cineworld have confirmed that their three Glasgow cinemas are to open again this weekend as the city moves to Level 2 of Scotland’s Covid-19 levels system.
Cineworld Glasgow Renfrew Street, Silverburn and Parkhead will all reopen their doors this Saturday (June 5) to moviegoers in the city for the first time since October last year.
Also opening on Saturday will be the GFT on Rose Street and the ODEON Glasgow Quay along with the VUE Glasgow Fort and the brand-new state-of-the-art VUE St Enoch Centre, which Glasgow Live was treated to an exclusive first look round last month.
Sadly, the IMAX at Glasgow Science Centre won’t be reopening at the weekend – with the future of the cinema remaining unclear.
Cineworld confirmed last month that they are no longer operating the IMAX and are planning to surrender their lease on it.
A statement published on the cinema’s Facebook page on May 12 reads: “We are no longer operating the IMAX at the Glasgow Science Centre and are planning to surrender our lease.
Glasgow cinemas to reopen this weekend as future of IMAX remains uncertain
Pity they failed to give any reasons.
However, I see there is an IMAX at Braehead – that’s probably the problem, two similar venues too close to one another, and Braehead will presumably have more footfall, having become a major shopping centre.
IMAX licences, which I assume are needed to operate such places and get the equipment and films from IMAX, would seem NOT to be carefully managed to protect the livelihood of the venues.
Oh well…
Since I was nearby last night, I detoured past the place, and it was a NIGHTMARE.
The area is a building site, with restricted access to the buildings, the ground broken, and even the bridges across the River Clyde – with one closed, and one so hard to get to it might almost be as well to be closed.
I found the way in, and managed to grab a pic of the closed IMAX theatre, with the BBC behind, and the temporary fencing which is all over the place.
Glasgow IMAX Closed
Secret Scotland 