On Monday 14 February 1938, David Kirkwood, the MP for Dumbarton Burghs, declared La Scala, Clydebank's newest picture house, officially open. After the opening ceremony, guests were treated to a showing of Maytime starring the popular duo, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddie.
The cinema was built on waste ground on the "Hill", and was claimed by its owners, the La Scala Picture House Clydebank Ltd, to be an "imposing and pleasing addition to the amenities of Radnor Park". The beautiful art deco building was of steel, concrete and brick construction and had particularly noticeable brick-coloured faience work on the entrance walls and tower. This tower, with the words LA SCALA in neon, became (like the Singer Clock) a much-loved local landmark.
In the late 1960s the cinema was closed for renovation, and the tower was demolished. It reopened on 31 July 1969 with the claim that it was Scotland's first twin-auditorium film-cum-bingo playhouse. Unfortunately, competition from television and video was such that this innovation only delayed the inevitable and on Saturday, 19 February 1983, the cinema section finally closed its doors despite, ironically, being packed to capacity during its last fortnight for showings of E. T.