Last-ditch bid to save a 'part of cinema history'

REEL CINEMA IS IN DANGER OF BEING DEMOLISHED

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

A LAST-ditch campaign has been started to save Plymouth's Art Deco former Reel Cinema from being torn down.

THE Plymouth Royal Cinema Community Benefit Society is calling on citizens to back its bid to buy the Derry's Cross building, where the Beatles famously played, and turn it into a multi-purpose arts and entertainment centre for the benefit of the city but only has a couple of months to submit a bid.

The society, named after the cinema's oldest name, registered the shuttered building, which also contains a former bingo hall and the shut Lorenzos restaurant, as an asset of community value and, as such, has been told the Reel Cinema chain has been approached by a developer that wants to buy it, tear it down and, in all likelihood, build housing on the site. The community benefit society immediately swung into action and last night staged a well-attended meeting at the next door Plymouth Athenaeum.

Supporters were told that, because it is registered as a community asset, they only have until September 6 to submit a counter bid.

They want to provide the building with a secure and sustainable future and continue its proud history, but need to come up with a proposal and must look at sources of funding.

The meeting heard that the building, which is not listed but is in a conservation area, had been valued in 2019 at £629,000 but that the Reel Cinema chain paid more for the lease and wants to sell for more than this sum.