The Central was built just after World War One, and was part of the national surge of local cinemas that took place between the wars. The building was built in the Greek revival, with its façade of white faience tiles. It was fitted by Elliott’s; a local joinery firm and they used pictures of the cinema to advertise their work.
When it opened it had a café and a ballroom but only one screen, though it could hold 1,400 cinemagoers. Multiscreen theatres didn’t become popular until the 1960s, during cinema’s heyday in the 30s and 40s Reading’s cinemas had a total of 5,965 cinema seats. Working out as one for every 17 people, 10 times the number there is today. In the 1960s the Café was closed and the cinema was converted into a three-screen cinema to suit the audience’s changing habits.
The cinema’s café later became a live performance venue, you can hear Readipop’s ukulele band Tea and Jam talking about their memories of the venue below.
The Central was closed on 22nd March 1999. The last films shown were “Shakespeare In Love”, “A Night at the Roxbury” and “Patch Adams”.