Oswestry community building being transformed into cinema

Here in Shropshire moves are under way to reopen or create new cinema venues including in Wellington and Oswestry.

In Oswestry, a building which has been empty for more than two years is getting a new lease of life as workers move in to transform it into a cinema.

The former Kingswell Centre in Arthur Street was left empty after the charity which used it as a base could no longer afford to keep the building open.

But after a team of volunteers from Kinokulture set about tackling the flaky plaster, lack of heating and peeling paintwork it is now well on the way to coming back into use as a community centre again.

Ruth Carter, who runs Kinokulture with technical director Ian Garland, said a lot of work had been needed to bring to building up to scratch so that it could house the film screenings, talks and other events planned.

"It has been empty for over three years and it hadn't had a lot of money spent on it prior to that," she said.

"The main cinema room was a sports hall with basketball hoops and huge boards of murals on the walls because it was a youth centre space. We didn't realise until we got in here that a lot of the plaster was coming off the walls, and there was no heating in the room.

"That set us back quite a bit because of the work we had to do before we could even start on creating the cinema.

"It hadn't had any work done, but we could see the place had potential to be transformed."

Despite the setbacks, including a six-month wait for the the five year lease to be agreed, the new cinema is expected to be ready for mid-June

Kinoculture is currently based at the Attfield Theatre on Bailey Head, where it screens films and associated talks and events.

But Mr Garland said the venue should provide a more versatile space when all the work is completed.

He said: "There will be a bar space and a comfortable seating area along the side of the main auditorium and raked seats for watching the films. The windows will be completely blacked out and the projection room will be on the balcony above the seats. We'll have a digital projector and a 35mm projector.

"But it won't just be a cinema. We've signed up to be an Arts Alive venue as well, and we'll do wider community-based activities.

"Downstairs we've got two community rooms for hire and this main room as well, and a film editing suite. We're working with The Centre youth venue and we'll be running a practical monthly film club with the Mary Hignett bequest fund paying for part of that. That will take the young people through the whole process of monthly sessions. We want to work with The Centre to develop a mini one-day young people's film festival."

Mrs Carter said they have also lined up screenings as part of the National Theatre Live programme, and will be working with Wem Town Hall and Flicks in the Sticks to bring a Best of British programme of films to the county over the next year.

"We'll be able to screen much more frequently than we can currently," she said. "We could be screening several times a week and we'll be screening a broader range of films and events, giving people the chance to see things you wouldn't normally see."