Shrewsbury's Old Market Hall Cinema celebrates 10th anniversary

Ten years ago, a group of Shropshire film enthusiasts took a giant step into the unknown.

They set out to transform one of the county's most iconic listed buildings into a luxury cinema – incurring the wrath of placard-waving protesters in the process.

But last night, champagne corks popped to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Old Market Hall Cinema in Shrewsbury, which has become one of the biggest success stories of the county's entertainment scene.

Year on year, attendances at the 16th century building in The Square have grown and, after a record-breaking 2013, it is now closing in on its 500,000th moviegoer.

A select group of supporters were invited to last night's party, which included a screening of the very first movie shown at the venue – the Maggie Smith drama My House In Umbria.

Shropshire councillor Claire Wild told the audience: "To say that the Old Market Hall has gone from strength to strength is something of an understatement.

"In its first year it sold over 19,000 tickets – a big increase on the numbers recorded the previous year at the old film theatre in the Music Hall.

"Last year it sold 55,000 tickets, and within the next few months it will have sold half a million tickets."

The building has become more than just a cinema – its popular cafe bar sells more than 250 cups of tea or coffee a day, and it plays host to regular exhibitions, and guest speakers.

The OMH has even hosted a black tie premiere, when it was the first in the region to show the Charles Darwin story, Creation, in September 2009. The creation of the 81-seat cinema had begun 10 years before that premiere, when the borough council, working with English Heritage, began to repair, renovate and restore the site.

It had last been used as Shrewsbury's magistrates court in 1995, and been put on the "at risk" register after lying dormant for four years.

When it was announced that the building was to be turned into a cinema and digital media centre, the news provoked protest from some people who felt it would be a drain on public funds.

But the fears were unfounded. The OMH was named one of the county's best nights out in the recent Shropshire Star Tourism & Leisure Awards. An exhibition marking 10 years of the Old Market Hall has just opened at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn, including the centre's old 35mm film projector and photographs taken during the restoration. It will run until February 22.

The cinema's most successful films, 2004 -14:

1. The King’s Speech

2. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

3. Les Miserables

4. Quartet

5. War Horse

6. Slumdog Millionaire

7. Atonement

8. Ladies in Lavender

9. March of the Penguins

10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy