Sore Point!

[Simon]

From Oct 1988 the Maestro Special was the value leader in the range. In 1989/90 this car was photographed in the Todays Cars Brochure with a slick and ultra modern red steel and mirrored glass modern architectural backdrop. That backdrop is The Point, located in Central Milton Keynes which opened in late 1985 and was quite literally the UK's first multiplex cinema. The architecture was based on 3 mirrored cubes topped off with a pyramidal steel skeleton which lit up at night thanks to red neon lighting and could be seen as a landmark from far away. It was the place to be in the late 80s and featured 10 screens, a nightclub, bar and pizza place all under one roof. It hosted premieres attended by movie stars and royalty alike and was also the venue for a Children In Need extravaganza in the 80s.I used to go there up until about 1992, then largely forgot about the place even though I often went to Milton Keynes because I lived near. Well, I was in Milton Keynes yesterday and decided to revisit The Point (ok, killing time before free parking at 6pm). I was shocked how it has fallen into disrepair and how much of a desolate eyesore it had become and is no longer used as a cinema and is scheduled to be demolished soon, being unsatisfactory in its layout and flexibility for modern leisure use. Check out the faded dirty and peeling paintwork, broken/boarded up glass and general air of decrepitude which left me feeling a bit depressed...

...The building survived much longer than the car, however!

[Tanya]

This is great Simon, thank you for posting it.

Please can you email this piece over to me as I know that our non forum members would love to read about it in the next Monstro.