TALKS with operators are under way for a £3.5m scheme to revamp Abingdon’s Guildhall, including two cinema screens.

Earlier this year the town council’s bid for £1.9m of Heritage Lottery Fund cash failed.

But council leaders have decided to go ahead with the project and it is now expected to cost about £3.5m, with £1m of the total already set aside by the town council.

Plans include a renovation of Abbey Hall with new seating for 150 to 200 people, a 110-seat cinema, and a new cafe-bar.

Our top stories

The creation of a new entrance and foyer has been abandoned to bring down costs.

Town councillor Iain Littlejohn, chairman of the Guildhall Committee, said: “We are now talking to third-party potential providers and we are half-way through the tender process with them, so we are hoping to start work in the latter part of next year.

“We are proposing doing a lot of work to turn the main hall into a multi-use venue with retractable seating, and a cinema screen could go in there.

“But we are also looking at creating a dedicated cinema screen at the back of the building, in what is currently a car park.

“That would allow us to run sensible operating hours and then there could always be a film on.”

He added: “If we had a permanent screen, Abbey Hall could be used partly for cinema and partly for other purposes, including live entertainment like comedy shows.

“We would like to become a venue that is on the same circuit as the Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot.”

Mr Littlejohn said the council aimed to strike a deal with an operator by Easter, and then submit a planning application and appoint a building contractor.

He added that the building project would last 12 to 18 months, with a predicted opening date of late 2016 or early 2017.

“It must be frustrating for the public because the progress on this appears to be slow but we are making progress,” Mr Littlejohn said.

It was unlikely that multiplex cinema operators would be interested in moving into the Guildhall. Instead, operators running chains of smaller cinemas could be an option.

Mr Littlejohn said: “We are talking to a range of different vendors.

“I am confident that Abingdon will get its own cinema and it will form part of these Guildhall plans.”

It has been estimated that the new attraction could bring in £700,000 a year, and help to cover the £150,000-a-year cost of running the hall.

The Regal Cinema building was a fixture in Ock Street from 1935 until it was demolished in 2003 to make way for flats.

The cinema closed for the last time in 1989.

Abingdon College and District Film Society regularly shows cult and classic movies.

 

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.