Broadway Cinema

The 1960s was the heyday of neon signs, when Nathan Road would be glimmering with neon lights. With a row of L-shaped neon signs, the Broadway Theatre on Nathan Road stood out with its imposing spectacle. Opened in the 1949 and designed by Messrs. Chau & Lau, the 1100-seat air-conditioned theatre was the newest cinema in Kowloon area at the time. The ground level of the building was designed as storefront for a variety of shops, which explains why there was a signage for “456 Department Store” amidst the neon-covered façade. When the theatre relocated in the mid-60s, these neon signs were dismantled, and eventually disappeared from the street as the new cinema line stopped adopting neon signs as a publicity medium.