This grade II listed building now called “Newport City Church” used to be the Newport Odeon Theatre and was opened on the 12th March 1938 with Nova Pilbeam in “Young and Innocent” it is located on the east side of Newport, in the Maindee area.
It was designed by architect Harry Weedon and the job architect was Arthur J. Price, built in classic Art Deco style for the Oscar Deutsch chain of Odeon Theatres Ltd.
It was a simple screen cinema with over 1545 seats, it remained the Odeon until it was sadly closed on 30th July 1981 with Elliott Gould in “The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark”. In the following years, it fell derelict and was facing demolition.
It was empty for 21 years apart from 1986-1991 when the ground floor was used for a snooker hall. For a short while it became Capone’s American Bar nightclub. However the building miraculously escaped demolition.
In 2003 the building was bought by a local businessman, and at a cost of over £1 million was transformed into a music and concert hall know as “Newport City Live Arena”.
The building has now been totally refurbished and has played host to some major music events and acts. The features within the building now included a large screen for sports events, keeping most its Art Deco style features and it has become a successful multi-purpose venue for large events.