Clydebank's La Scala cinema opened on Valentine's Day 83 years ago

Because it was on February 14, 1938 that the town's much-loved and fondly-remembered La Scala picture house – where many local couples went for their first dates – officially opened on Graham Avenue.

After the opening ceremony 83 years ago today, guests were treated to a showing of Maytime, starring the popular musical duo Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.

Kilbowie Road wtih La Scala Cinema in 1941. Photo courtesy West Dunbartonshire Council

The beautiful art deco building of steel, concrete and brick, and its tower with the neon-lit words La Scala, became a much-loved local landmark in the years that followed – not least because it was one of the very few buildings in the town that survived the Blitz of March 13 and 14, 1941, making it a symbol of the town's resistance to the German onslaught.

When the sirens sounded at 9pm that first night, the town’s cinemas were full, and Young People, starring Shirley Temple and Jack Oakie, was showing at La Scala.

The audience took shelter under the balcony, where they stayed throughout the night, singing songs to keep their spirits up.

Young People was showing at the La Scala when the first bombs of the Clydebank Blitz fell on March 13, 1941

Tragically, though, just yards away from La Scala, the Wedderlea Dance Hall on the other side of Graham Avenue received a direct hit from one of the Luftwaffe's bombs, and an estimated 36 people lost their lives.

Some of those injured in the dance hall blast were brought into the cinema, while in 1961 a memorial was erected close to the site in tribute to those who were killed. It still stands there today.

READ MORE: One Bankie's memories of the day the La Scala opened

Though not destroyed by any German bombs, the La Scala didn't survive unscathed; it had to close for extensive repairs, before finally reopening for business in February 1944.

Those post-war years were the heyday of cinema, and "going to the pictures" was a weekly highlight for many Bankies – as seen in the 1954 photo of the huge queues stretching up and down Graham Avenue and into nearby Kilbowie Road as local film fans eagerly awaited their chance to see the latest Errol Flynn movie, Crossed Swords.

Film fans queue outside the La Scala cinema in Kilbowie Road in 1954 to see the new Errol Flynn movie, Crossed Swords (Photo courtesy West Dunbartonshire Council)

In the late 1960s the La Scala's owners closed the building for renovation works, which included the demolition of the landmark tower.

With cinemas facing an increasingly tough battle against television and recorded and live music for customers' cash, the La Scala's owners reinvented the property as a dual purpose cinema and bingo hall – claiming it to be the first such facility in Scotland – and the doors were reopened in July 1969.

But the popularity of cinema continued to wane, and the La Scala showed its last film 38 years ago next week – on Saturday, February 19, 1983.

The La Scala awaits the wrecking ball in 2016

Ironically, it had been packed to capacity during its final fortnight before the doors closed, for showings of the new Steven Spielberg family blockbuster E.T.

While the bingo club soldiered on, the cinema side of the building lay moribund for many years before finally being converted for use as a snooker club.

But that venture proved short-lived, and the Gala Bingo hall, as it had become, bit the dust in 2006 following the introduction of Scotland's indoor smoking ban.

The Post's news pages in the weeks and months leading up to the demolition of the building were full of memories of happier times Bankies spent at the La Scala.

Reader Michael McNulty told us in 2016: "I really liked that cinema. It was a great building, so it was. The curtains used to come across when the film finished.

"Every month I looked to buy the film review there. It was a great atmosphere."

In 1976, he saw a poster for the double feature of Enter The Dragon and Freebie And The Bean, but at 13, was too young to see the films so just asked for the poster, which became a prized possession.

New flats for Clydebank Housing Association stand on the site today

He added: "Everybody enjoyed La Scala and it's a shame it's gone. It was a great night out. The building aged well but went to ruin. I miss it – it's part of Clydebank history."

The increasingly derelict building remained part of the Graham Avenue streetscape until the summer of 2016, when it was finally demolished to make way for new flats built for Clydebank Housing Association.

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