:no_upscale():quality(75))
The 80-year-old Towers Cinema in Hornchurch High Street will be knocked down and replaced by a Lidl supermarket.
The cinema is one of east London’s last remaining Art Deco buildings.
In 2015, hundreds of residents petitioned Havering Council to protect the cinema so Historic England could assess its heritage value, but that appeal failed. An attempt for Everyman Cinema chain to rescue the building also failed.
The Towers Cinema opened on 3 August 1935, according to The Londonist. Odeon bought the building in 1943 and operated it until 1973, when it was converted into a bingo hall. Lidl bought the building in 2015 for £8M.
Lidl says it plans to retain the Towers lettering and create a public art installation in the store. [Londonist]
