From Regal Cinema to Metro Reloaded
A Saltcoats landmark — nearly a century of film, music and nights folk still talk about.
Our home at 4 Hamilton Street has been Saltcoats’ social heartbeat for close to a century. Long before basslines rattled the balcony, this was the Regal Cinema, opened in 1931 and designed by theatre specialist John Fairweather. With around 1,200 seats, a proper stage and dressing rooms, the Regal brought big-city spectacle to the Ayrshire coast. It was built for shared experiences — the kind that lift a town — and that purpose never left the building. Today, as Metro Reloaded, the same shell still does what it was made to do: bring people together for unforgettable moments.
Regal Beginnings (1931 → 1985)
The Regal rose on the site of the earlier Casino Picture House — a wooden dance hall by about 1914, adapted to film exhibition in 1919. The new building upped the ambition: a handsome façade, generous foyer and a deep stage that let the house swing between cinema and live performance when needed.
Technically, the Regal moved with the times. By the mid-1950s it had installed CinemaScope, widening its screen experience dramatically, and in 1970 it was equipped for 70mm presentation — serious kit for a seaside town cinema. A balcony fire in 1965 prompted a closure and refit: the foyer was enlarged, a refreshment bar added beneath the balcony, and capacity reduced to roughly 795. Through these changes, the Regal remained the place for big nights out — first dates, family matinees, Saturday queues down Hamilton Street.
The Birth of Metro (1988 → 2000s)
By the mid-1980s, changing habits and competition dimmed the projector for good, and the Regal closed in 1985. But Saltcoats wasn’t done with the building. In 1988 it was reborn as the Metropolis Nightclub — soon simply Metro. The cinema’s volume and balcony translated beautifully into a high-impact club space. Through the 1990s it became a rite of passage in Ayrshire: packed weekends, credible DJs, and that joyous spill-out onto Hamilton Street at closing time.
Inside the Regal
Peek behind the front doors and you see why the space adapts so well. The auditorium’s broad proscenium, the rhythm of the ceiling bays, and the textured wall panels made for an immersive, theatrical room. Even the foyer — with its box-office nook and tiled entrance — was designed to build anticipation from the pavement to the seats. Those same architectural cues set the mood for Metro’s dancefloor decades later.
Resurrection & Reload (2020 → Today)
After spells of closure and the long silence of the pandemic, locals rallied round a plan to bring the venue back properly in the early 2020s. The idea was simple but ambitious: restore the building’s role as a flexible, modern space for club nights, live bands, community events, fitness classes and private functions. The goal wasn’t nostalgia for its own sake; it was to give Saltcoats a venue that works seven days a week — programmed, welcoming, and economically useful.
By 2024–2025, Metro Reloaded was firmly back on its feet. Marketing got sharper, the diary grew more consistent, and audiences rebuilt the habit. Nostalgia-led nights returned with a vengeance — hands-in-the-air anthems that still do the business — while new concepts like day-clubbing and special live shows proved the room can flex. Private hire and community-use bookings filled the gaps, keeping lights on and staff in work.
Timeline
Be part of the next chapter
Whether it’s a big night out, a live show, or a private celebration, Metro Reloaded is ready.
Check our events, grab tickets, and make memories.
