Airdrie Gala Bingo – Hallgraig Street

We don’t have the details surrounding the club’s closure, however bearing in mind the date of its closing, we can hazard a guess that it may have been a victim of the smoking ban, and as it is a Scottish club, and the ban was enforced in Scotland before the rest of the UK its effects were felt there first.

We do know that prior to ‘bingo refurbishment’ the club was the Hippodrome Theatre which opened in 1908. The building had been converted from its previous usage as a Corn Exchange at the turn of the century. In 1928 it became the Rialto Picture Theatre which showed films until the mid 1960s when it was converted into a bingo hall. Luckily, despite interior modification, the exterior is of such a design that it is likely that the building’s frontage will be preserved.