The Capitol.. Wetherspoons.

[I hammer]

Does anyone know what's happening to the Capitol pub building at Forest Hill, now that it's closed? 

[Jerrywest]

I would love to know also. Please could a super sleuth shed some light on the capitol’s ill-fated conclusion!?

[NewWave]

Its still empty...

[Earl Aelfheah]

There was talk (admittedly quite a few years ago now) about one of the many evangelical / mega church types wanting to take it over. 

[Ash29]

Some Facebook members were spreading the rumor that it would be turned into a mosque.

Others that it would be just another pub.

Who knows?!

[alice]

Religion more popular than alcohol? 

[malumbu]

Lewisham will try to keep it's existing use.  They tried hard to keep it as a visual arts centre rather than a pub 30 years ago after the bingo hall closed down, and eventually gave in to Tim Brexit, to his credit kept it's heritage.

Try SE23.com - no chat about it at the moment, join the Forest Hill Society www.foresthillsociety.com and/or CAMRA https://sel.camra.org.uk/

I'll keep at ear out.

[Jerrywest]

I hope we find out soon!

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

I'm hoping for an indoor skate park. Or failing that another hardware shop.

[KidKruger]

Would make a great nail bar or fried chicken emporium. Or both.

[Earl Aelfheah]

An indoor, fried chicken, nail, DIY, skateboard mega church sounds good. 

[jazzer]

Would make an ideal spot for the likes of Nando's in SE23.  

[Spartacus]

Maybe a cinema would fit there quite nicely 

[malumbu]

Dicky Dirt's, you have to be a certain age to appreciate that

[fishboy]

I've been reliably informed by a local publican friend that it's going to be an independent cinema...

[malumbu]

Interesting history of the Capitol as a cinema, and others in Forest Hill and one in Sydenham.  I met someone who used it as a cinema, but would love to know what pop concerts were held there.  Similarly I've only met one person who went to gigs at the Newlands Tavern in the 60s or 70s, but he said he was too drunk to remember the bands.

www.foresthillsociety.com/2018/03/the-capitol-and-other-lost-cinemas-of.html

A mate and I looked at it when derelict before Brexit Tim took it on, we had a pipe dream of turning it back into a cinema.  I've done the tours a couple of times, the circle is complete, including a ghost, but the projection room is locked, and they never found the key.  You had to go outside onto a balcony to get in.

 

[Pugwash]

I used to go to The Capital cinema in the 60s/70s/80s    cannot remember when the cinema closed but as far as know I have never heard of a pop concert being there. In the 60s/70s my friends an I used to go to Lewisham Odeon and Tooting Odeon seeing Freddie and the Dreamers, Herman Hermits, Walker Brothers and other groups of that era. My pop concert days ceased when I had my eldest child and got a mortgage and did not have the money for 'treats'.

My music cravings are now catered by going to Churchill Theatre in Bromley.

[Insuflo]

Wetherspoons only rented the place. I think (but don’t know) that it’s owned by AMC, a US firm that claims to be the world’s largest cinema operator. AMC bought out Odeon, which bought out ABC, which had owned it  from the 1930s, if not built it. Local historians please correct me.

If AMC is the owner, then an independent cinema (do such things exist?) sounds unlikely. But what can be done with a listed cinema? A church? What can be done with a listed church? A cinema? Both are buildings built for a fad that has had its day.

Edited January 2, 2024 by Insuflo
Appalling grammar.

[Sue]

1 hour ago, Pugwash said:

I used to go to The Capital cinema in the 60s/70s/80s    cannot remember when the cinema closed but as far as know I have never heard of a pop concert being there. In the 60s/70s my friends an I used to go to Lewisham Odeon and Tooting Odeon seeing Freddie and the Dreamers, Herman Hermits, Walker Brothers and other groups of that era. My pop concert days ceased when I had my eldest child and got a mortgage and did not have the money for 'treats'.

My music cravings are now catered by going to Churchill Theatre in Bromley.

I saw the Stones at Tooting Odeon. Front row.

Must have been early sixties.

On topic, I reckon either Poundland or Screwfix. But preferably a cinema!

[Jerrywest]

So it seems the front running theories are:
 

- Religious Building
- Pub
- Cinema 
 

Any more information please do post! This is the most fruitful thread I have found online. Viva La Capitol. 

[LivinSaarfMan]

I know the owner’s a tw@t but I like a ‘spoons’ they’re great value and give people a place to go who don’t want to spend a load of money; it’s a good offering and a loss to Forest Hill. Spoons like Greggs have become British fixtures for good reason. 
 

A friend is opening a business nearby according to him it’s staying as a pub run by another chain/real estate investment company Greene King/Fullers etc

[malumbu]

If it's GK I will avoid.  The worst of all pub estates.  In my informed opinion of course.

[gj2020]

I went there when it was an ABC cinema before it was a bingo hall. I don't remember any gigs there, that was the other side of the tracks - now a wedding venue called Grand Palladium, though the signage just reads 'Gran' since giving up some of its frontage to a pizza shop...

I'd love a music venue or theatre at the old Witherspoons but no chance of course.

[Sue]

On 14/01/2024 at 23:08, malumbu said:

If it's GK I will avoid.  The worst of all pub estates.  In my informed opinion of course.

Yeh, GK ale is rubbish 🙄

[DuncanW]

Greene King own Metropolitan Pub Co, which in turn owns local pubs The Bishop, The Actress and The Angel Oak (Peckham Rye Hotel) 

Those pubs may or may not be to your taste, but they're far cry from the GK dross of Chef and Brewer, Hungry Horse etc..