The original theatre on the site on Wolfe Street, present-day Kingsway (coordinates 53°0′16.4″N 2°10′59.1″W / 53.004556°N 2.183083°W / 53.004556; -2.183083) was the Crown Theatre, built in 1897; it was a wooden building seating about 1100, designed by Charles Lynham Beckett.
The richly decorated auditorium, seating about 2000, comprised stalls on the ground floor, with boxes, dress circle and balcony above, and gallery over.
The theatre opened on 12 March 1900 with the musical The Belle of New York.
[3] It re-opened as the Gaumont on 28 July 1952, with the film The Greatest Show on Earth.
[2] The cinema was closed in January 1961 by its then owners The Rank Organisation.