ONE of Barrow's iconic places of entertainment was in the final stages of demolition in this month 14 years ago.

Groups of people came to watch each day as the empty building which had been the Apollo cinema was reduced to rubble — and cleared the way for the Emlyn Hughes statue and office block.

Many took photographs and a few even carried off a small piece of masonry as a souvenir of a building where they had spent many happy leisure hours watching the popular movies of their era.

A prized item for one souvenir hunter during the demolition project was the Holker Street road sign on the corner of the cinema building.

The Mail, on Monday, September 13, in 2004, noted: "Part of Barrow's demolished Apollo cinema is heading to China.

"The 1936 built extensive steel frame of the building is being recovered and recycled to provide steel for a massive dam project in China.

"Timber from the cinema is also being recycled.

"The familiar front of the building at the junction of Holker Street and Abbey Road was flattened as crowds watched on Saturday."

John Stanton, of project engineers Owen Williams, said the operation wasn't as spectacular as some people hoped because of the steel frame of the building.

Mr Stanton told The Mail: "One or two people said it was a shame but other people were saying it was probably for the best.

"Others were saying how strange it looked with nothing there, which I suppose is natural."

With the main shell demolished, workers for Walter Forshaw cut up steel shell and cleared all the large sections of masonry to leave a site fenced off and surfaced in crushed brick.

The cinema opened on the corner of Abbey Road and Holker Street on September 14 in 1936 as the Ritz and 1,735 people watched the first night show.

There was a special pre-release presentation of Jessie Matthews' latest production called It's Love Again.