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The Capitol to close
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malcolmchurch


Posts: 21
Joined: Feb 2014
Post: #1
23-06-2014 12:42 PM

Breaking news .... The Capitol is closing as a pub in the next 3-6 weeks and WILL revert to a cinema.

I am actually quite sad about it as I do use The Capitol quite a lot...

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #2
23-06-2014 12:53 PM

Which cinema company is taking it over?

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markusorrillius


Posts: 18
Joined: Nov 2012
Post: #3
23-06-2014 01:01 PM

Wow! Big news indeed. How did you hear?

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fleurie


Posts: 7
Joined: May 2012
Post: #4
23-06-2014 01:05 PM

Blimey! That's a surprise, especially as picture house opening on Lordship Lane

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digime


Posts: 26
Joined: Sep 2011
Post: #5
23-06-2014 01:13 PM

Source Malcom? Not some bloke down the pub I take it!

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Fish Face


Posts: 135
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #6
23-06-2014 02:09 PM

Same thing by 'malcomchurch' was posted on East Dulwich forum.

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/...19,page=11

Someone else has phoned the pub team to verify and it's a load of codswallop...

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Storyteller


Posts: 13
Joined: Jun 2014
Post: #7
23-06-2014 02:31 PM

I contacted The Capitol, and they said as yet it is undecided.
Lets hope this well used venue will stay with us a long while yet.
In the mien time let's bombard Wetherspoons with emails of protest.

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #8
23-06-2014 02:48 PM

Pfft. It seemed fishy (no offence, Fish Face). Misinformation rather than trolling? That user has a fairly normal posting history on the EDF.

This post was last modified: 23-06-2014 02:52 PM by rshdunlop.

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Perryman


Posts: 823
Joined: Dec 2006
Post: #9
23-06-2014 07:49 PM

We know it will not revert to a cinema.
It will be converted into expensive flats.

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Erekose


Posts: 557
Joined: May 2010
Post: #10
23-06-2014 08:28 PM

Picture house in Lordship Lane......is this imminent?

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malcolmchurch


Posts: 21
Joined: Feb 2014
Post: #11
23-06-2014 10:38 PM

Definitely not codswallop.
Wetherspoon have not made an official announcement yet and so their customer care people have no knowledge of what is happening ...a similar thing happened when The Ship of Fools at West Croydon closed. The Capitol staff were told over the weekend but were asked to keep it quiet and, of course, they didn't and will not publicly acknowledge that
So Wetherspoons have definitely sold the lease and are closing the pub. The staff believe that it will become a cinema but that is not so certain as there are several things to be done. It is a listed building so can't be used for property development. Planning permission/change of use also need to be finalised but a cinema should be a formality.
However, as with any property change, things may still go wrong.
It was definitely a cinema in the past, 60 years ago my girl-friend remembered going there at the age of 9, buying a ticket and then opening a back-door ticket to admit all of her friends.
Fron the Wetherspoon website :-

The Capitol opened its doors to the cinema-going public in 1929. Later renamed and converted into a bingo hall, the building now bears its original name.
A rare survival of a 1920s cinema, The Capitol, on London Road, first opened its doors to the cinema-going public in 1929, with a screening of Man, Woman and Sin. Renamed the ABC in 1968, the cinema gave its last picture show in October 1973. There were plans to convert and even demolish the building. However, The Capitol opened as a bingo hall in February 1978, closing in the first week of December 1996. It is now this Wetherspoon pub.

Definitely not wishful thinking on my part. As an OAP with limited funds I love Wetherspoon pubs as I can't afford to pay £4 plus for a pint for those ghastly gastropubs in Lordship Lane and Forest Hill. So I would much prefer the status quo.

Oh well, I still have the Fox on the hill, Brockley Barge and The Moon and Stars in Penge, but none of those of those is as convenient as The Capitol.

No knowledge of who the new lease holder is, the staff were told it would be a 3 screen cinema but that could be difficult without considerable changes to a listed building.

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malcolmchurch


Posts: 21
Joined: Feb 2014
Post: #12
23-06-2014 10:55 PM
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CrustyRack


Posts: 53
Joined: Mar 2014
Post: #13
24-06-2014 08:05 AM

Personally, I hate chain pubs.They have so much purchasing power, as they are buying for 100+ branches! and can negotiate a bigger discount (if they are buying 2000 cases of vodka a week, as opposed to a case, that a local pub may order). They open to great fanfare, with loss leading prices, and as soon as the demise of other local pubs is complete, they hike the prices up.

My money is on the Capitol becoming a happy clappy church.

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plasticniki


Posts: 6
Joined: Jul 2013
Post: #14
24-06-2014 08:18 AM

If this turns out to be true I will be devastated.

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Chris88


Posts: 43
Joined: Sep 2012
Post: #15
24-06-2014 08:42 AM

Interesting.

Wouldn't think there'd be a market for a cinema in Forest Hill.

You've got all the teenagers vs the artsy/canvas & cream crews. Both of which would put each other off from going there.

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Novels


Posts: 83
Joined: Apr 2008
Post: #16
24-06-2014 09:01 AM

I am extremely sad that it is going.
It is my local.
Some members of staff have been working there for donkeys years, like Bean.
It is a friendly place where everybody is welcome.
I enjoy the other pubs too, but somehow in the Capitol I feel at home.

Still, I can find ginger beer and J2O anywhere in London, I suppose...

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AMFM


Posts: 306
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #17
24-06-2014 09:02 AM

Odd comment Chris88 (or maybe I just don't understand it). I think there is very definitely a market for a cinema in Forest Hill - I for one would use it and would be very happy to be able to walk to my local cinema rather than having to drive/get train/bus to nearest cinemas in Surrey Quays/Beckenham/Brixton etc

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #18
24-06-2014 09:15 AM

IF!!!! the Capitol is closing then I can only assume it is not making enough money. What chance does a cinema have in the same location. No parking, no chance.

Sorry.

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Cheeky


Posts: 215
Joined: May 2009
Post: #19
24-06-2014 09:23 AM

The Clapham Picture House has no parking, neither does the Greenwich Picture House. Brixton Ritzy?

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Medley


Posts: 87
Joined: Nov 2011
Post: #20
24-06-2014 09:24 AM

I agree about chain pubs, but I make a distinction for Wetherspoons. They have good beer, fair food, nice atmospheres, good staff, great prices, fabulous buildings that they do an alright job of looking after. They are a long, long way for many other pub chains.

That said, the Capitol - unlike lots of other Wetherspoons - is probably too close to the old man's pub end of the market for financial comfort these days.

Not sure that makes a compelling financial case for a local cinema either, but I'd give it a few goes if it opened.

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