In 2003 when I visited the former Empire Cinema in Muizenberg, near Cape Town, it had been derelict for some time and was in a very bad state.
Still there was still enough to see that it had once been a very handsome building.
The horizontal nature of the building is highlighted with the alternating bands of brick and cream render.
A large vertical sign at one end of the building had been removed but you could imagine it lit up beckoning people to the main entrance below the curving canopy presumably announcing that week's
comming attraction.
High on the facade there are a series of horizontal decorations embellished with short vertical bars and central stepped arrangement brought together to create an additional art deco feel.
Then we come to the stylized lettering spelling out the name
Empire. What a beauty.
A bit of reseach on the web reveals that the Empire story appears to have a happy ending.
The Empire and it's neighbour, Greens, have been refurbished and converted into residential flats as part of a
redeveloped Muizenberg beach front.
The seaside Cape Town suburb Muizenberg has under gone a renaissance in recently years but even six years ago the Balmoral Hotel looked pretty good.
