Many residents and visitors to Forest Hill are familiar with The Capitol, the art deco building that dominates London Road as it rises from Forest Hill station towards the Horniman Museum.
Until recently this was a well-known Weatherspoon pub. The building though has a long history, originally built as a silent movie cinema in the 1920s complete with space for an orchestra and organ, and for many years also operating as a bingo hall. A bit of additional oral history tells that it was used in WW2 as the local lookout spot for the fire wardens, keeping an eye out for falling bombs and residential fires, as it has a high central balcony above the entrance.
Click here to read a brief history of the building, written when it was still a pub, and this article about its history as a cinema.
The building has managed to retain many of its original features both outside and inside, and for this reason it is both a Grade II listed building.
The future of the Capitol building and its use has been uncertain in recent years. A number of years ago Weatherspoon put several of its pubs up for sale, and included The Capitol. The building has high operating costs, particularly heating as well as the limitations on indoor development because of its Grade II listing.
Around 2019 it was finally sold to a new owner though Weatherspoon continued to operate the pub. However, the timing proved unfortunate for the new owners. They had hoped to return it to its former role as a local cinema - a plan that would have had much support locally. The financial impact of the Covid lockdowns, but also the big increases in costs of running and developing properties seen around this time, and then the huge increases in energy costs, it proved commercially unfeasible to continue. So, in 2023 these owners once again sold the building, this time to an entrepreneur, Jonathan Laznik, with a plan to turn it into an indoor play space under the Gambado brand. Recently the Forest Hill society sat down with Gambado director Jonathan Laznik to talk about his plans. Jonathan already ran a number of play centres, but also acquired the Gambado brand that used to operate many play centres including one in Beckenham (that many local parents may remember from around 10 years ago). That company currently only runs one other centre, in Chelsea, but the Forest Hill location is planned to be the start of a wider roll-out of Gambado centres around London. The good news is that when this centre opens it will create several full-time jobs as well as many part-time opportunities, particularly for younger people.
Should the Gambado plans go ahead, the idea would be to turn the entry spaces into a seating & waiting area for parents, but also a secure entrance to ensure the safeguarding of the children. This would then allow for the huge floor space that once held the bar and the tables to be a 10 metre, 4-storey tall play tower for children to explore. It will also include, if approved by the planners, a slide that takes kids from the upper reaches of the high balcony all the way to the ground floor - safely, one hopes!
Jonathan has expressed a strong personal desire to see the building returned to its former glory as an architectural gem in Forest Hill, but he notes this is a VERY big building and this will take some time. The Forest Hill Society visited recently including a tour of the abandoned spaces in the upper levels of the building as well as the basement. It is clear that this will be a project that will be ongoing for some time.
Much will depend on what Lewisham Council has to say about planning consent for the use as a play centre, and what English Heritage will require in order to protect the historical features of the building. Our hope is that these can be addressed while also creating a space which will be a destination for families both local and from surrounding areas. Having more people visiting Forest Hill with kids will be great for many local businesses. The location is highly suitable for Gambado as it well-served by multiple bus lines and the train station.
The project development and the planning process will take many months, and then construction is likely to take many more, so in our conversation, Jonathan did not really expect the centre to open until late in 2025 at the very earliest, but that is still currently just a guess and could well stretch into 2026.
The Forest Hill Society will definitely keep an eye on the applications and the decisions taken about this space, and will share details when we get them. We certainly wish those willing to maintain this building and create a local business, all the very best of luck with the process.
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