Dreamland’s art deco influenced cinema building on Margate seafront has seen its Grade II listing elevated to Grade II* status - matching that of the fire-damaged historic Scenic Railway.

The revised listing has just been conferred by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and denotes the cinema, which closed in November, as “a particularly important building of more than special interest”.

Work began on the cinemas and ballrooom complex in 1934 and was formally opened amid much ceremony in March 1935 by Capt Harold Balfour, Thanet’s then MP.

The cinema could seat 2,200 people in its stalls and balcony and stayed in this form until 1973 when the balcony was converted into two 350-seat cinemas and the stalls became a bingo hall and theatre.

Externally, the distinctive 80ft high fin ensured the building would be the tallest on the seafront for 30 years until the 1960s when the nearby Arlington House tower block was completed.

* For the full story see the Thanet Extra – out Wednesday.