Birmingham Kingstanding Mecca Bingo – Kettlehouse Road

Kingstanding was one of Britain’s earliest cinema-to-bingo conversions, and it ran as a bingo hall for a remarkable 64 years. The building opened on 22 July 1935 as the Odeon Kingstanding, designed by Harry Weedon and Cecil Clavering, the architects who defined the classic 1930s Odeon look, originally planned as an independent cinema called The Beacon before Oscar Deutsch snapped it up for the Odeon chain. It’s a fine example of the style at its most restrained, with cream faience tiles against red brick, rounded corners and a tall central fin tower, seating 1,292 across a stalls and circle in an unusual semi-stadium layout where the balcony barely overhung the stalls, giving the whole auditorium a notably open feel.

The Odeon closed on 1 December 1962 and was converted almost immediately into a Top Rank Bingo Club, one of the very earliest examples of Rank repurposing its cinema estate for bingo, well ahead of the bigger conversion wave later in the decade. It later became Mecca Bingo Kingstanding, gaining electronic terminals, a bar and food service over the years while still feeling unmistakably like an old Odeon, helped by Grade II listed status from 1980. A 2009 refurbishment even brought the long-closed balcony back into use after a nearby Gala club shut and membership grew. While it was open it became far more than a bingo hall for the local area, a genuine community hub especially for older residents. Rank announced consultation in May 2026 citing declining profitability and the cost of repairs to the ageing listed building, and the final session took place on 7 June 2026, closing out 91 years as an entertainment venue and 64 as a bingo hall, one of the longest unbroken runs of any former cinema turned bingo club in Britain.

Other Lost Halls In The Area

• Birmingham Gala Bingo – Swan Centre
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – Bristol Road South
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – High Street
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – High Street
• Birmingham Gala Bingo – Walsall Road
• Birmingham Top Ten Bingo – Coleshill Road
• Birmingham Stockland Green Buzz Bingo – Streetly Road