Hippodrome
Falkirk
The Hippodrome
Falkirk is owned by the Scottish Historic
Building Trust. They sorted the first
phase of resstoring the building then
leased to Falkirk Council, who will
offer a modern cinema-going experience
in the building's previous delightfull
guise. Even though The Hippodrome's
prominent place, laying in the cultural
heritage of Bo'ness, only a small
amount of information is available
in the public domain.
Louis Dickson
remains something of a unknown, and
much of the material about his early
work, including digitised film clips
and a biography lay below....
Louis Dickson
(1880 -1960) Cinema exhibitor and
topical film-maker Dickson trained
as an electrical engineer, before
entering the cinematograph trade in
1899. A keen cameraman, Dickson was
quick to establish himself within
the industry and in 1908 he was appointed
the official 'Kinematographer' to
the Scottish National Exhibition in
Edinburgh. In 1912 he opened Scotland’s
first purpose built cinema in Bo'ness,
the Hippodrome, in Hope Street.
Designed by
the local architect, Matthew Steel,
the Hippodrome was one of the
finest buildings in the town and was
distinctive of Steel's style, which
also characterised many other Bo'ness
buildings. Seating 1,004 on two levels,
the Hippodrome's opening ceremony
was performed by the town's Provost
Grant. Unlike many other individuals
involved in the industry at this time,
Dickson did not seek to consolidate
or expand his business throughout
Scotland, instead preferring to remain
the proprietor and manager of the
Hippodrome. Nevertheless, Dickson
did play an important role in the
trade in general, through the positions
he held in the Cinematograph Exhibitors
Association (CEA), of which he was
Vice Chairman of the Scottish Branch.
In 1926 he also was one of the Scots
delegated to attend the CEA's General
Council.
Dickson produced
local topicals for the Hippodrome
including films of the annual Miner's
Day Gala in Bo'ness, which evolved
into the Bo'ness Children's Fair.
The Fair was held on Fair Friday,
which fell on the second Friday of
July each year. It was an annual event
which caused much excitement in the
town and the film, usually shown a
week later at the Hippodrome, was
always a popular show. Dickson remained
and worked in Bo'ness until his death
in the early 1960s. He was an innovative
man with a strong sense of humour
which could be seen by the fact that
he called his house "Hollywood".
Contact the
Hippodrome Falkirk
By Post: The
Hippodrome 10 Hope Street Bo'ness
EH51 0AA
Telephone the
Box Office: 01324 506850 More
Info
By Email: hippodrome@
falkirk.gov.uk
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