Palladium Cinema lens handed over to Coleraine Museum Service

The fully restored lens was presented to the Mayor of Coleraine, councillor Sandy Gilkinson by Wallace McNaul, William McCombe, Henry Warke and Raymond Carson

The Unit was removed from the old Palladium Cinema on Society Street, Coleraine, with the kind permission of Steven Moore.

The Palladium was a social hub in the town from the early 1930’s, and is an intriguing part of the history of entertainment in Coleraine.

The Cinemascope Lens Unit, which allowed film to be shown on a wider screen, was pioneered in Coleraine in the early 1950’s.

This technological advance changed the way film was viewed and is an extremely welcome donation to the Coleraine Museum’s Collection

Restoring the lens unit was a time consuming task, as Wallace McNaul explained: “Henry undertook all the turning and lathe work, Raymond made the wooden base, it may look like just a piece of board but Raymond turned my drawings into the correct position so as when the lens was in the standard format it did not over balance, William completely cleaned and re-painted the lens and my part in the exercise was to bring all together as you see today.”

The Mayor, councillor Sandy Gilkinson, thanked all the men for their considerable efforts in restoring the Unit.

“I would also like to thank Steven Moore, the developer, for his support in allowing Wallace and Museum staff access to the Palladium before redevelopment. Steven’s support enabled Coleraine Museum, with Wallace’s advice, to remove material of unique historical interest, from the former cinema.”