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It will complement the adjacent restaurants, cafés and bars, becoming a new addition to Liverpool's night time economy.
Below the cinema will be two large shops, which are already in negotiation with Grosvenor. Rod Holmes, Grosvenor's Project Director, said: "We are delighted that such a well established and respected brand as Odeon Cinemas will be the leisure anchor for Liverpool One.
"The company's modern and innovative approach to cinema entertainment makes it the perfect match for this aspirational development. Odeon's commitment at such an early stage highlights the market's confidence in Liverpool One."
Amanda Steel, Commercial Property Director for Odeon said: "The Paradise Project is an exciting development for a thriving city and it will return Liverpool to its rightful place at the top of the retail and leisure hierarchy. We are delighted to be an anchor tenant of this innovative development."
Cllr Mike Storey, Leader of Liverpool City Council, commented: "The 14-screen Odeon Cinema, along with the project's extensive new leisure facilities, will play a major part in helping us achieve our ambition of re-establishing Liverpool as a first class European destination."
larryneild@dailypost.co.uk
The Paramount was billed in 1930s Liverpool as the 'last word in cinema luxury'
THE Odeon in London Road, the last surviving traditional cinema building in the city centre, opened it doors in 1934 as the Paramount Cinema. It was built on the site of a boxing stadium that closed three years earlier and was demolished.
The plan was to build a 2,670-seater super cinema, the largest on Merseyside. Owners of the other big city centre cinemas, the Futurist, Scala and Palais de Luxe objected to the cinema licence being granted for the Paramount, described as the very last word in cinema luxury. It cost £240,000 to build.
The Lord Mayor, Ald George Alfred Strong, opened the Paramount on October 15, 1934 when Cecil B DeMille's Cleopatra was screened. The cinema hired internationally renowned organist Rowland F Tims. Early-bird tickets cost just a shilling (5p) with prices ranging later in the day between a shilling and 3s 6d (17.5p).
It was renamed the Odeon in 1942 when Paramount sold out to the Odeon circuit. In 1954 the Odeon became Liverpool's first large-screen Cinemascope cinema. The classic film, The Robe, was the first to be shown on the new big curved screen.
The organ remained until 1968 when it was switched to two screens. In 1973 three smaller screens were added, making it a five-screen complex, and was later reconfigured to provide 10 screens.
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