page_title: Leicester Athena
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Leicester Athena / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Athena Before
context_page_description: Athena is a Grade II-listed events venue in the cultural quarter of Leicester City Centre, England. Built originally as an Odeon Cinema in 1936, it closed for most of the 1990s and remained vacant up until 2005, where the building was restored as a multi-discipline events venue.
context_section_description: The building was originally designed and built in 1936 in the Streamline Moderne style by Robert Arthur Bullivant, and operated as an Odeon Cinema.  When it was first opened, the Odeon was one of the most extravagant and largest buildings in the region, with one screen and seating 2,182 guests. The terracotta panels, which feature mermaids, were hand-moulded by William Neatby at the Lambeth premises of Doulton and Co.
  The interior was subdivided in 1974, into three small cinemas, and closed in 1997. The building has been Grade II listed since August 1997, giving it protection from unauthorised modification or demolition.
  The building has been restored and converted into a venue for corporate and social events.
caption: Athena as the Odeon Cinema in 1936
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix S2980", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2013:12:03 16:39:26", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Image ExifOffset": "272", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "922", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3770", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2000:01:29 22:32:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2000:01:29 22:32:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "63/10", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "58/25", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "163/50", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "52/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1224", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1616", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "6992", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "6992", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}