Bolton town centre to get community cinema
9:03am Friday 23rd December 2011 in News
A COMMUNITY cinema will open in Bolton town centre in the New Year in a fresh move to revitalise the town centre.
The idea, from Bolton Council, will see family-friendly films screened in the Albert Halls on certain Sundays throughout the year.
The council then hopes to extend the cinema to show midweek classics for pensioners.
Costs will be kept low as civic leaders hope the move will attract more people to the town centre.
The first film, Puss in Boots, which was released at mainstream cinemas earlier this year, will be shown on Sunday, January 15, at 2pm.
Council leader Cllr Cliff Morris said: “This is going to be great for Bolton and something which will appeal to all the family. “We are still working to secure a cinema operator for the town centre, but in the meantime, we are going to trial this for a few months as we think this could be a good short-term solution.
“We have a perfect readymade venue in the Albert Halls and we have kept the prices low to make it as affordable for families as possible.”
Prices are £4 for adults, £2 for children and £10 for a family of four.
Cllr Morris added: “We definitely think there will be a demand for the films, particularly in the New Year when everyone is looking for something to do which isn’t costly.”
Earlier this month, the Bolton Vision Conference, in which leaders from Bolton’s public, private, faith, voluntary, education and community sector organisations met to lay out their plans for the future of the town, heard that Bolton needed to be more family oriented.
Ch Supt David Hull, head of police in Bolton, told the conference the centre only appeals to a small proportion of the community. It is hoped the cinema can start to address that.
The council has hired a mobile cinema company to screen the movies. The films will be projected on to an eight foot by 10 foot screen and there will be a 15-minute interval.
Assistant director for community services Malcolm Veigas said: “People will be able to come down to the Albert Halls, have some lunch in the Dido restaurant, then go watch a film.
“We’ll have a break halfway through so people can a have a chat and a cup of tea.”
The Albert Halls can seat 500 people and refreshments will be on sale.
The second film, Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked, will be shown on February 12 at 2pm.
Tickets will available from alberthalls-bolton.co.uk, call 01204 334400 or people can pay on the door, subject to availability.
