Is it final curtain for Wellington's much-loved Clifton cinema?

But what it can say in its grand old age is "I'm still standing" – the last of the traditional purpose-built cinemas from the golden age of movies to survive in Telford, albeit unused and with an unclear future.

There have been many twists and turns in the plot since January 18, 1937, when it was officially opened by Major E.R.H. Herbert, of Orleton Hall, Wellington.

It was built at a cost approaching £50,000 and the first films were "Captain January" with Shirley Temple and "The Big Noise" starring Alastair Sim.

A year of celebrations will be held to mark the 80th anniversary of The Clifton.

Campaigners trying to reclaim the building will hold more community events than ever during 2017.

Fiona Hunter, a director of The Clifton Community Arts Centre Ltd, said the best birthday present would be for a chance to get back into the building itself.

"The most wonderful gift is if we could persuade the owners of the Clifton to talk to us about obtaining the venue," she said.

"That would be the best 80th birthday gift and it would be Wellington's best gift as well." The group is attempting to negotiate the use of Wellington's former HSBC bank in Station Approach to create an 80-seat cinema as it attempts to secure the Clifton.

It is hoped a cafe-bar could be created on the ground floor of the unit and the upper floors used for rehearsal rooms, readings, classes, craft workshops and young people's activities. Fiona said: "We will continue to negotiate for the HSBC building. We're getting nearer to that, but nothing is certain until the lease is signed."

Printed mugs will celebrate the 80th anniversary and T-shirts are also being designed – but there will not be any events to formally mark eight decades since the Clifton first opened. "It is a little too early in the year to hold big celebrations," added Fiona. "Our supporters might not thank us for dragging them out on a cold winter's day but we certainly do have intentions for many more community events this year, embracing more forms of the arts than we have previously.

"We hope to put on dance, perhaps an exhibition from local artists and photographers, puppet and magic show for our younger supporters and maybe even an afternoon tea."

In the decades that followed, the Clifton has provided a host of memories for the untold thousands of folk from Wellington and further afield who passed through its doors, and particularly for the children whose lives it shaped when the cinema-going habit was such a part of young lives.

For Wellington lad Allan Frost, going to see Fantasia in the early 1950s sparked a lifelong love of classical music, while the Saturday Club for children was memorable for its mayhem and suspense.

"The Saturday Club was the time that I think most people in the mid to late 1950s of my age group got hooked on films," he said. "There were things like Batman and every episode finished on a knife edge.

"There were lots of kids there for sixpence, in real money. It was a good way for parents to have a bit of peace and quiet at the weekend. For 6d (that is, 3p) you had a full programme and also cheap lollipops.

"They would emerge blinking into the daylight afterwards looking like young vampire children with red lips caused by the lollies."

The big rival in Wellington for the Clifton was the Grand on Tan Bank.

"The Grand, of course, was 'the cosiest cinema in town' and we know it was because it said so over the main entrance," said Allan.

"It was cosy, all on a single level. The thing about the Grand is that it was the place you went with a girlfriend, because you could sit at the back and not be noticed. You went to the Grand to be with a girlfriend, and went to the Clifton to see a film."

Allan recalls going to the Clifton to see the movie Cromwell, starring Richard Harris, around 1970.

"There's nothing like cigarette smoke filling the auditorium to add atmosphere to a battle scene," he said.

"The Clifton occasionally put films on which were obviously intended to attract A-level or O-level students. I can remember going to see Othello with Laurence Olivier and thinking 'this is overacting at its worst'."

The final death scene for the Clifton, if that is what it proves to be, has been long and convoluted. In 1982 it could still boast 110,000 admissions, including 26,897 for the film ET.

It closed on April 27, 1983, amid much local disquiet and protests. It reopened as a cinema in altered form, using just the old circle, in May 1987, but closed again on December 24, 1988.

Later the building was converted to house a laser gun entertainment game. Ultimately it became a Dunelm store.

Dunelm moved out in May 2012 and local campaigners have a dream to turn the old cinema building into a community venue.

What happens next? It's a cliffhanger in which the next episode is still awaited.