Date of closure: Circa 1992
Address (for reference only):
Independent Club
Main Street
Lochgelly
KY5
The town of Lochgelly once had two cinemas, the De Luxe on Bank Street, and the opera house/cinema on Main Street.
After it closed as a cinema, it became a bingo hall – Enterprise social Club. My mum remembers going to it with a couple of friends every Sunday night, after the Rex in Cardenden, where I live, closed.
A friend of my mum’s, Jeanette Henderson, contacted her brother on my behalf, as he used to be a caller there, and was able to supply the name of the hall, but not a closure date. However, I think it closed down in 1992.
After closure, which left Lochgelly with no bingo halls, it became a snooker club, “The Masters Centre”. That venture didn’t last, and it closed in the late 1990s.
Having remained derelict for years, the Opera House, with the tenement housing in front of it, and Broadways pub next door, which had also been derelict for years, were demolished in favour of new shop units, all occupied, and affordable rented housing.
Nowadays, the nearest bingo halls are in Cowdenbeath, Premier Bingo, and Kirkcaldy, also Premier Bingo.
By Robert Clark (July 2011)
