The Elysium Building opened in April 1914 as a cinema and a club for the town’s working men. Designed by Messrs. Ward and Ward of 34 and 35 Norfolk Street, The Strand, and built by contractors Messrs. Fred Pitcher Ltd. The building contained spacious shops abutting on to an Arcade with show rooms over, and three floors above for staff accommodation with one large hall and several smaller halls. It was the property of the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Workers' Union, and the main hall was let to the Anima Company Ltd. The Elysium cinema, run by the Anima Company, could accommodate about 1,400 persons. The building also contained a ballroom, a ladies reading room, and a suite of offices used by the Dockers' Union. The cinema is thought to have closed in 1960, and the whole building later closing in the 1990s.

M. Powel, RCAHMW. January 2023.

Sources: 'New Swansea Picture Theatre’, The Cambria Daily Leader, 8 April 1914, p.5; ‘Swansea Dockers’ Enterprise’, Llais Llafur, 18 April 1914, p.7; ‘The Elysium, Swansea’, Llais Llafur, 6 June 1914, p.2