I am a relative outsider and largely unaware of the significance of many buildings to a particular location and resident population. I do appreciate architectural styles but the Eureka was not a building that was in any direct line of sight particularly following alterations to the road system in that part of the city and even to a regular passing motorist like myself it could as easily be missed.
What did capture my attention in the summer of 2005 was a concentration of activity and a cloud of dust and debris as the once proud Cinema came to be demolished and the site cleared in readiness for a Lidl Supermarket.
In most of the urban environments of UK towns as well as the suburbs there has been a very dramatic decline in old cinema venues and so you may ask what was particularly special about The Eureka.
The authoritative work by Pevsner on "The Buildings of England" gives part of a sentence to it which is quite an endorsement for what was a functional building, specifically "Eureka Cinema, 1912, striking front in green and white faience".
I had to look up faience in the dictionary which refers to "the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated by French speakers with wares exported from Faenza in northern Italy". Available archive photographs do not do justice to the splendour of such a material on a large front elevation but it would be clear, when built just two years before the outbreak of the first world war that the Eureka was a major commission.
It was evidently very well received by the Hessle Roaders as a leisure facility for the local population of which a high proportion earned their living from the hazardous industry of deep sea fishing.
The cinema was a show of the glamour of the movies and somewhat ahead of its time as the halcyon years of the silver screen were yet to come. As a sign of good attendance the seating capacity was increased in 1921 with construction of a balcony.
A local resident recalls the magic of a trip to the Eureka. "I was only a kid when we used to go there and see all the matinee idols on the big screen but I remember always longing to sit in the double seats at the front where the couples went. It was very sophisticated and seemed really posh."
It was certainly the place to be seen, a good night out or somewhere to go on a date. The saturday cinema club and matinee performances entertained thousands of children at a time when there were few amenities for the younger generation.
The trawling industry, bringing great danger in the Arctic fishing grounds and with a heavy loss of life also brought money to Hessle Road. Cinema going figured high on the activities of local families in their valuable time off and for crew members who on their short periods of shore leave earned the title "Three Day Millionaires".
There tends to be a natural cycle in the life of the older generation of cinemas and the Eureka was no different. Having survived the Blitz in the second world war the Eureka stayed in business showing films until 1959 suffering from competition from larger city centre establishments and the arrival in many living rooms of television. The natural progression was as a Bingo Hall, another popular pursuit but this was itself under threat from a declining population as the old terraced streets were cleared and the occupants relocated to large sprawling new build Council Estates some four to five miles out on the far reaches of the city.
In 1984 a revival was attempted as a live music venue but this proved to be unviable and the premises were sold in 1989 for redevelopment. The location, by now a bit isolated and surrounded by car sales garages and secondary shops was not conducive to a conversion of The Eureka to flats and through a combination of inaction and neglect the building began to deteriorate rapidly.
Within ten years it was necessary to carry out partial demolition including removal of the roof. Now open to the elements the former grand interior of the elaborate and ornate facade took on the appearance of a wooded and overgrown copse.
The very visual demise of the Eureka caused concern to the Hull Civic Society who started a campaign try to save it as an emblem of the past and part of the heritage of the by now decimated trawling industry which had supported the Hessle Road Community for so long. The website, "Cinema Treasures" expressed the need for a rescue operation of such a fine example of a pre war building but to no avail.
I felt, in a strange way, privileged to be a witness to just a small part of the demolition of The Eureka cinema in 2005. It was the passing of a landmark and institution serving as a pleasure palace to a proud, hard working and long suffering Hessle Road community.
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