Date of closure: 30th October 2023
Address (for reference only):
Mecca Bingo (Lost Halls)
59–69 Kirk Road
Wishaw
ML2 7BL
Wishaw’s Mecca occupied one of Scotland’s four great Green’s “super-cinemas”, and remarkably it’s the one where the original interior survived best. It opened on Thursday 19 December 1940 as Green’s Playhouse, the last of the four Green’s cinemas following Glasgow, Dundee and Ayr, designed by John Fairweather with an original capacity of 2,982, split between 1,714 in the stalls and 1,252 in the circle, an extraordinary scale for a town the size of Wishaw. The exterior was surprisingly restrained, but inside was pure spectacle, with massive fluted Corinthian columns, a huge shallow-domed ceiling, giant Ionic columns flanking the proscenium and elaborate Art Deco fretwork throughout. One especially eccentric touch was a fluorescent carpet that glowed under black light when the house lights went down, letting patrons find their seats in the dark, alongside a 100-seat café above the foyer that could convert into a dance floor.
Mecca acquired the Green’s Playhouse circuit in 1967 while the cinemas were still operating, and Wishaw’s eventually closed as a cinema in the 1970s before converting to Mecca Bingo. What makes this club especially notable is how much survived the conversion. Historic Environment Scotland found the Corinthian columns, Ionic proscenium columns, boxes, balcony, ceiling and even the original cast-metal circle seats all remained intact, with only the stalls seating removed and new stairs added to the balcony. That significance earned it Category C(S) listing in January 2004. While it was open the club offered the standard modern bingo facilities layered into that extraordinary shell, though a precise closure date isn’t well documented, only that the club is now permanently closed. It stands as one of the more remarkable survivals in British bingo history, a nearly 3,000-seat 1940s cinema auditorium still fundamentally intact beneath the Mecca branding right up to the end.
What a lovely place, and the staff are fantastic. Other bingo halls should take a leaf out of their book. Well done staff at Wishaw.
There was no Manager there on the 5 nights I went, but was told not to approach the Assistant Manager Janelle (or Ginelle) as she would shrug her shoulders at anything. As a joke I asked her which medium was the most expensive to play bingo here at Wishaw and got a shrug, no dialogue! My last time, no wonder the staff dislike her.
Fantastic atmosphere enhanced by the efficient and really friendly staff, along with some great prize money and a real sense of friendship makes Wishaw a surprisingly excellent night out. Highly recommended for anybody who wants a lot more than ‘the usual’ saturday night out.
Great staff especially Shug and George.