Cinema sold?

Roen

Hi Folks,
was chatting to a lad in a pub last night (you know pubs, the places where everybody knows everything) and he told me that the cinema on Patricks street was sold. To a lad called Tweedy too. Anyone here hear anything about this?

If true, and if handled well it could provide Waterford with a great gig venue right in the heart of the city.

Also just wondering did anyone hear any more on the Bescos thing btw?

merlante

Roen wrote:

Hi Folks,
was chatting to a lad in a pub last night (you know pubs, the places where everybody knows everything) and he told me that the cinema on Patricks street was sold. To a lad called Tweedy too. Anyone here hear anything about this?

If true, and if handled well it could provide Waterford with a great gig venue right in the heart of the city.

Also just wondering did anyone hear any more on the Bescos thing btw?

I predicted this from day one. No way those lazy, incompetent bastards on Patrick St. would go into competition with anyone. As soon as the new one opens, if not before, they'll be gone. Then we'll be back to one cinema again... reduced from 11 to 8 screens thanks to McCan't...

Christ, ****ing Tweedy again. Is there nobody else who will invest in Waterford???

fade2black

Someone from Waterford who says "A lad called Tweedy"...??

c - 13

Roen wrote:

If true, and if handled well it could provide Waterford with a great gig venue right in the heart of the city.

That would be prety sweet alright although its a shame that the other cinema will probably have no competition, now it can be run into the ground like this one ...:(

Roen

Well the one out at Ballybeg may get the go ahead yet. So we may have the two that we need.

fade2black

A cinema in ballybeg??? lol you kidding? You mean fire station right?

c - 13

I think Roen means the one at the proposed "Crystal Village" out at the Crystal sports centre, no ?

Roen

Yep that's the one C-13. If it goes ahead it would do a lot to revitalise the area.

Bards

Check this out http://www.waterfordcity.ie/planninglists/lists/2006/25Sep-01OctRecieved.pdf

11 screens for the site bordering the Airport Road and the ORR

merlante

Bards wrote:

Check this out http://www.waterfordcity.ie/planninglists/lists/2006/25Sep-01OctRecieved.pdf

11 screens for the site bordering the Airport Road and the ORR

Does it not say 12? (Or did I read it wrong?)

Anyway, cinemas seem to be as hard to get in Waterford as a second river crossing! Since 2000 we've been promised 3 cinemas in addition to the one on Patrick St. -- we should have 4 by now -- but none have been delivered.

Now it seems that as soon as the new (diminished due to BMC's activities) cinema opens in Railway Sq., assuming it ever opens, the one on Patrick st. will close. The one on the Dunmore road disappeared into the ether (BMC?) and I will believe the one in crystal village when I see it.

It seems like every development in tacking on an 11 screen cinema these days, but I wonder if it often isin't some sort of ploy to get planning permission and then when a building is built to look for permission for something else. Could we really have an 8 screen in railway sq. and an 11 in Ballybeg? That's better cinema provision than Galway or Limerick I think. (Although my info is out of date.)

It also makes you wonder if the 'new' cinemas are aware of the fact that the one on Patrick st. will close; because otherwise it might be pretty foolhardy to open 23+ screens in the city... do they know something we don't?

Roen

Remember folks, it's just pub talk at this stage. I originally posted up to see had anybody else heard anything.

Bards

merlante wrote:

Does it not say 12? (Or did I read it wrong?)

oops...typo..yes 12 is correct

AdMMM

Don't you think 8 screens is enough?

merlante

|.Murderer.| wrote:

Don't you think 8 screens is enough?

Not really. Remember they are never all used at the same time.

The current cinema has 5 screens I think, and it misses out on a *lot* of films. Even Brokeback Mountain wasn't shown in Waterford, which I find incredible. You need 8 just to get what I would consider the bare minimum in the cinema.

11 gives you room for more off-beat stuff, more flexibility, and can accommodate multiple simultaneous viewings of very popular films, such ala Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.

Considering it would be the main cinema for god knows how many miles, it's not asking much!

Cabaal

fade2black wrote:

A cinema in ballybeg??? lol you kidding? You mean fire station right?

Haha fantastic!
it'll be a 8 screen cinema...er I mean 8 engine fire station with security fences

Maharet

I had heard it was not going to be a cinema anymore all right, although my Mam heard from someone in the doctors that it was going to be Marks & Spencers, I don't know where they got their info from though, so dunno how reliable that is...be cool if it was true though.

Although it does suck that we're now only gaining 3 screens instead of 8. :rolleyes:

JPA

merlante wrote:

Not really. Remember they are never all used at the same time.

The current cinema has 5 screens I think, and it misses out on a *lot* of films. Even Brokeback Mountain wasn't shown in Waterford, which I find incredible. You need 8 just to get what I would consider the bare minimum in the cinema.

11 gives you room for more off-beat stuff, more flexibility, and can accommodate multiple simultaneous viewings of very popular films, such ala Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.

Considering it would be the main cinema for god knows how many miles, it's not asking much!

The cinema on Patrick St doesn't miss out on films because of lack of screens. It's because the owners won't pay the high prices that some film studios/distributors demand. If they want 50% takings for a film that's not a guaranteed success it usually misses Waterford.

merlante

JPA wrote:

The cinema on Patrick St doesn't miss out on films because of lack of screens. It's because the owners won't pay the high prices that some film studios/distributors demand. If they want 50% takings for a film that's not a guaranteed success it usually misses Waterford.

It certainly misses out on some films due to the lack of screens.

The Waterford Cineplex, with 5 screens, is currently showing 5 films weeknights. (Seemingly operating at full capacity.)

The Galway Eye Cinema, with 9 screens, is currently showing 8 films weeknights. (1 screen free in the evenings.)

The Galway Omniplex, with 11 screens, is currently showing 9 films weeknights. (2 screens free in the evenings.)

So in summary, while the people who run the Waterford cinema may well be cheap, incompetent and lazy, the number of screens is still a huge factor in the number of films that Waterford gets.

You sharp reader will note that Galway has 20 screens in (critically) 2 cinemas compared to Waterford's 5! Cinema has been all but strangled to death in Waterford.

Now somebody asked, isin't 8 screens enough? What do you think? It doesn't seem to be enough for Galway: they have 20 screens, with 17 of them active at any given time!

Judging by how the capacity is used in the Galway cinemas, 11 screens should give a choice of 9 films on a weeknight, whereas 8 screens should give a choice of about 7. That's 22% less viewing choice thanks to our good buddy Brendan McCan't. You'll note that the actual cinema part of the Railway Sq. development is next to Tescos and is therefore clearly miles away from the tower!

deisemum

When you're counting the cinemas/screens in Galway are you including the new cinema that's 3.5 miles outside Galway near Oranmore. It has at least 6 screens and is normally busy.

Has an Bord Pleanala made a decision on the proposed cinema at Ardkeen?

merlante

deisemum wrote:

When you're counting the cinemas/screens in Galway are you including the new cinema that's 3.5 miles outside Galway near Oranmore. It has at least 6 screens and is normally busy.

Has an Bord Pleanala made a decision on the proposed cinema at Ardkeen?

No, I wanted to make a point, not make people cry.

If that project is still on the planning merry-go-round, there is something Kafkaesque going on...

nah_biy!

Cork has ~40 screens and we need about 20 more, seems very odd Waterford has so few in fairness.

lostexpectation

merlante wrote:

Does it not say 12? (Or did I read it wrong?)

Anyway, cinemas seem to be as hard to get in Waterford as a second river crossing! Since 2000 we've been promised 3 cinemas in addition to the one on Patrick St. -- we should have 4 by now -- but none have been delivered.

Now it seems that as soon as the new (diminished due to BMC's activities) cinema opens in Railway Sq., assuming it ever opens, the one on Patrick st. will close. The one on the Dunmore road disappeared into the ether (BMC?) and I will believe the one in crystal village when I see it.
It also makes you wonder if the 'new' cinemas are aware of the fact that the one on Patrick st. will close; because otherwise it might be pretty foolhardy to open 23+ screens in the city... do they know something we don't?

you already got this wrong before merlante when I pointed out it was arguement wit the distributors, not the number of screens, do you think there shouldn't be any smaller cinemas?

merlante

lostexpectation wrote:

you already got this wrong before merlante when I pointed out it was arguement wit the distributors, not the number of screens, do you think there shouldn't be any smaller cinemas?

How have I got it wrong? A look at the cinema listings reveals that Waterford is using all 5 of its screens every night of the week. (Think there's 5 screens.) Cinemas elsewhere with more screens show more films. Whatever 'problem with the distributors' that the Waterford cinema has, in addition to it being tiny, does not belong in the 21st century.

Small cinemas are grand, but I *thought* that he 'cineplex' was supposed to provide mainstream cinema for the city. It fails in this because it is too small and is too badly managed. I don't really care what the specific problems are.

merlante

nah_biy! wrote:

Cork has ~40 screens and we need about 20 more, seems very odd Waterford has so few in fairness.

Well Cork serves about 250,000 people cinemawise I'd say. Waterford serves about 80,000. So you'd expect Cork to have three times the number of screens.

60 sounds about right for Cork.
20 sounds about right for Waterford, particularly since Galway has 20 (26 with Oranmore) for a slightly larger population.

The problem is, we only have 5, which looks like it will increase to only 8, so 20 seems like an astronomical figure in comparison. (And since the Patrick st. cinema is such a disgrace, large segments of the population simply don't go to the cinema.)

AdMMM

I wouldn't just blame bad management for the plummeting number of people that go to the cinema. Our rapidly changing culture has something to do with it. More and more people are investing in surround sound home cinema systems and their 40" Plasma TV's. Piracy is also to blame - nowadays it takes longer to watch a movie than it does to download it. People also have less free time now than they did 5 or 10 years a go and oftentimes the screenings are on at an unsuitable time.

It could be argued that this could be remedied by having more screens, but the problem with having more screens is that you'd struggle to fill up the cinema. As it stands, the Cineplex is struggling to sell out, even for big films on weekends.

Can you really see 20 screens being utilsed in Waterford?

merlante

|.Murderer.| wrote:

I wouldn't just blame bad management for the plummeting number of people that go to the cinema. Our rapidly changing culture has something to do with it. More and more people are investing in surround sound home cinema systems and their 40" Plasma TV's. Piracy is also to blame - nowadays it takes longer to watch a movie than it does to download it. People also have less free time now than they did 5 or 10 years a go and oftentimes the screenings are on at an unsuitable time.

It could be argued that this could be remedied by having more screens, but the problem with having more screens is that you'd struggle to fill up the cinema. As it stands, the Cineplex is struggling to sell out, even for big films on weekends.

Can you really see 20 screens being utilsed in Waterford?

I have to say, I don't at all buy that argument. First off, as a big fan of the cinema myself, no surround sound system can compare to the cinema experience.

In any case, the lull that cinemas suffered with the introduction of the VCR has been completely reversed. Cinema is now incredibly popular, particularly in Ireland, where the rate of admissions is the highest in Europe: Wikipedia: Media in Ireland: Film.

As I see it, the market for cinema in Waterford has seen (if anything) a contraction, whereas in almost every other part of the country cinema is booming. It is not uncommon for people in Dublin, where I lived for years, to go to the cinema every week or two weeks. Whereas in Waterford, it seems to be much less common. The problem in Waterford is that the Patrick st. cinema is filthy, badly run, very small, and doesn't seem to believe that adults go to the cinema. Brokeback Mountain was not shown at all in Waterford, ffs! And people did care. You had people kicking up on WLR. The very same as you have people kicking up on WLR about the fact that the air conditioning is frequently broken, and the way you get people complaining on here about lights not being turned off, the sound being rubbish, and the film cutting out half way through, etc., etc., etc.

There are many other problems with cinema in Waterford. The single cinema is far from the largest population centres in the city and parking is problematic because of its city centre location. The place never advertises itself.

Basically, yeah when you have 5 screens in one cinema, and the place just about breaks even, you can question the need for 20 screens, but at the moment, cinema in Waterford is quite simply an inferior way to spend your time than other activities. That is why it is dropping like a stone.

Anyway, to answer your question, I do think Waterford/Tramore could support 20 screens. Galway has 20 screens + 5/6 a few miles out, and will have another cinema soon by the looks of things. What the **** is wrong with Waterford? Why are people so pessimistic? I'm from Waterford and I love the cinema, and I'd be a regular cinema goer, but sometimes I read this board and I wonder if I am the only one who has any faith that Waterford can or should (?) break even on services. :mad:

charlie@w.d

in your post i agree completly in what u say.
are u serious brokeback mountain wasnt sceened in waterford??
I'd like to know why?
was it because of homophobia

merlante

charlie@w.d wrote:

in your post i agree completly in what u say.
are u serious brokeback mountain wasnt sceened in waterford??
I'd like to know why?
was it because of homophobia

I don't think it was homophobia, I think they just made a bad choice in the films they picked at that particular time. Lots of good films don't make it to the Waterford cinema. They probably didn't think it would be a big deal, but then of course the gay community got upset about it and they got some bad publicity. Still, like I say, they seem to have a 1980's view of cinema, that you can only make money from small kids coming in with their parents.

I don't think they even realise that adults go to the cinema (elsewhere).

Jor

I passed by Railway Square the other day. The hoarding has been removed and the site around the building is been cleaned up. Hopefully this means we won't have to wait much longer for the new cinema to open.
But then again, this is Waterford.....

Roen

merlante wrote:

I have to say, I don't at all buy that argument. First off, as a big fan of the cinema myself, no surround sound system can compare to the cinema experience.

I heartily agree, first off the surround in my living room actually works, secondly there's no annoying morons to the left, right, front and rear of me, thirdly, food that actually tastes good, fourthly I can watch any film whenever I want as many times as I want, fifthly the picture will be focused, free from ads and better quality than the cinema, sixthly I won't have to queue with and be polite to the morons who five minutes later will be annoying the piss out of me. Welcome to the cinema in Ireland.

I realise that the cinema experience you may have outside Waterford may well be an improvement but the problems listed above are not exclusive to good old Port Lairge.

I did enjoy the cinema in Latvia the few times I've been, it's relatively moron free and highly modernised, certainly better than anything we have in Waterford or city centre Dublin. If we could learn from them it would be a good start

Surround sound in Waterford? Thomas Edisons phonographs are more 'surround' than what we currently experience in Waterford. The last film that had good surround that I saw here was Saving Private Ryan and that was 7 or more years ago.

merlante

In fairness Roen, I am not going to try to sell you a product you don't want.

But suffice it to say that some of us prefer to see a film in a proper, fully equipped theatre, with other 'annoying morons', and yes, with a ton of overpriced popcorn to munch. I can still download... I mean buy (!)... the film and watch it many times at a later point, but I want to see good films in the cinema first.

And the main point of my previous post was that I am not the only one who does, cinema admissions are the highest in Europe in Ireland.

(And yes, the cinema experience in Waterford is rubbish. While I'm sure that the Dublin cinemas are undoubtedly not up to 'latvian' standards, the likes of Cineworld (or whatever it is this week) did me grand for years.)

Roen

I know it may be hard to tell from the above but I do prefer the cinema, or rather I did prefer the cinema. But, much like the pubs in Ireland the time has now passed when it was enough to open your doors and people would come in to hand over their cash. I became tired of complaining to the staff. I voted with my feet and now I don't go.
The fact that 'it did me grand for years' shouldn't be enough, any business that doesn't strive to improve itself constantly deserves to go, and will go, the way of the do-do. The fact that Irish cinema admissions are the highest in Europe (link?) says nothing about the quality of the service provided.

It's not rocket science, all they have to do is
1. Provide a wide range of films for all age groups.
2. Make sure their housekeeping/cleanliness is in order.
3. Provide decent quality control on their sound and vision systems.
4. Pitch it all at a reasonable price.

And the reason I mentioned Latvia is simply to outline that if an eastern european country with more than it's fair share of social and economic problems can get the above right, why the hell can't the mighty Ireland?

merlante

So we both think that the Waterford cinema is rubbish then, what's the problem?

And I like Cineworld in Dublin. It seems as good as most cinemas anywhere. The only thing that is wrong with it is that it's popular, or was.

The link for the 'most admissions in Europe' thing is given in an earlier post. And if the wikipedia article makes no references, you'll find a few things in the Irish Times archives, if memory serves.

horsebokks

Roen wrote:

Hi Folks,
was chatting to a lad in a pub last night (you know pubs, the places where everybody knows everything) and he told me that the cinema on Patricks street was sold. To a lad called Tweedy too. Anyone here hear anything about this?

If true, and if handled well it could provide Waterford with a great gig venue right in the heart of the city.

Also just wondering did anyone hear any more on the Bescos thing btw?

i heard kavanagh was buying it to put in a casino.....now,heres a thought ...if the new cinema in ballybeg bombed he could buy it & put in a casino & then if that bombed....on 2nd thoughts nah, it'll be too close to the new fire station

Shellie13

From wat i hear no it HASNT been sold...God tweedey owns the entire town it seems...ah fair play!

Roen

Wahayy, back on topic at last.

JMcL

merlante wrote:

So we both think that the Waterford cinema is rubbish then, what's the problem?

+1 for that. As you've already stated, nothing compares to watching a movie in a proper cinema, but that hole on Patrick St. doesn't deserve to be called a cinema. The last time I was there the film was so badly projected that my eyes were streaming and I had a headache by the time I came out. There's also no turnover in films whatsoever. Galaxies have been born and died since the still showing Garfield started showing there, meanwhile the new Martin Scorcese film has been on release for 2 weeks at this stage, and could they be arsed? I'm going to stick to my DVD player until there's another choice, though it sounds like it's going to run by the same muppets

merlante wrote:

And I like Cineworld in Dublin. It seems as good as most cinemas anywhere. The only thing that is wrong with it is that it's popular, or was.

Cineworld is an example of what a cinema should be. Clean, comfortable, and a broad selection of films.

nah_biy!

Cork's (MahonPoint) Omniplex is a gem if you ever get to visit it.

From reading this thread it almost seems as if Waterford is suffering a relatively third world cinema existence

Aquos76

According to this weeks Munster Express, Storm will operate the new cinema in Railway Square. They already operate cinemas in Cavan Town, Portlaoise, Limerick and Belfast.

http://www.stormlaois.com/pages/index1.htm

Maharet

Cinema is way better than watching films at home, when you're at a decent cinema! The sad thing is the cineplex in Waterford used to be good years ago. I remember I was in there all the time until I left to go to college.

Cineworld was better when it was UGC I think, it's still a million miles better than waterford, but it just wasn't the same when Cineworld took over, they took away a few nice services and that. It seemed to be getting better up to when I left Dublin a couple of months back though.

It would be brilliant to have a UCI in Waterford though, butter on the popcorn, yum!! I've been to a few of the ones around Dublin and they're very nice.

I was looking at the back of Railway Square and the cinema is coming along nicely, the exterior is finished and the stairs are in, shouldn't take too long to finish of the interior, hopefully!

Dan133269

Aquos76 wrote:

According to this weeks Munster Express, Storm will operate the new cinema in Railway Square. They already operate cinemas in Cavan Town, Portlaoise, Limerick and Belfast.

http://www.stormlaois.com/pages/index1.htm

The Storm cinema in Limerick is less than impressive, 9 euro for a flic.
Friends went there and emergency door exit alarm went off early into the film, eventually someone went out and told a member of staff so they came in and put a paper cup over the little thing drowning it out a tiny bit, now that's a quality cinema! :rolleyes:

trishw78

Didn't Cineworld used to be Virgin Cinema's I liked going there when I was in College in Dublin. Loved their Cola anyone know where a person can buy Virgin Cola now, they used to put butter on the popcorn as well yum yum. I asked for butter once in Patrick's Street Cinema 'cause I saw the hot butter machine on the counter behind the person serving me and he/she said it's not a real butter machine and laughed in my face.

I remember when that was brand spanking new it was soo nice to go there it felt we had finally got a real cinema, but alas it doesn't feel like that anymore.

I don't think I'll judge this Storm Cinema's crowd until they settle in. Still wish UCI was comming to Waterford.

merlante

trishw78 wrote:

Didn't Cineworld used to be Virgin Cinema's I liked going there when I was in College in Dublin. Loved their Cola anyone know where a person can buy Virgin Cola now, they used to put butter on the popcorn as well yum yum. I asked for butter once in Patrick's Street Cinema 'cause I saw the hot butter machine on the counter behind the person serving me and he/she said it's not a real butter machine and laughed in my face.

I remember when that was brand spanking new it was soo nice to go there it felt we had finally got a real cinema, but alas it doesn't feel like that anymore.

I don't think I'll judge this Storm Cinema's crowd until they settle in. Still wish UCI was comming to Waterford.

Used to hate the old Virgin (it's very different now). Back in the day it was the most expensive in the city centre and you had to walk around like an ape trying to pour drinks, look for lids, queue up for popcorn here, queue up for paying there. Basically, you paid more for less. :rolleyes:

Yeah, buttered popcorn is dying a death in Ireland.

Yeah, the cinema really seemed great when it opened at first, but now look at it. You know a crappy regional cinema because when something breaks or 'goes', it never comes back. Some cinemas (for example) have gotten rid of butter popcorn for ludicrous health reasons, but others are just too crap and lazy to keep the machines clean. :mad:

Our man in Havana

Storm do a pretty decent job with their Portlaoise cinema in fairness.

Dan133269

Bond-007 wrote:

Storm do a pretty decent job with their Portlaoise cinema in fairness.

Yeah after I posted that comment I asked my friend who's actually from Limerick what are they like and she said they're pretty good. So maybe good times ahead for us!

JMcL

trishw78 wrote:

Didn't Cineworld used to be Virgin Cinema's I liked going there when I was in College in Dublin.

It did indeed. It got got fairly dingy towards the end of Virgins tenure, and for most of UGCs. Though the redevelopment 2-3 years ago, when the expanded into the old IMAX space and almost doubled the number of screens has resulted in a really nice cinema.

Dan133269 wrote:

So maybe good times ahead for us!

Well, can't be any worse anyway

Roen

Bugger it! When I did a search for Cinema threads in the Waterford I was returned about 800 hits so I said I'd pick my own one.

I see that Storm is opening on 8th June in the Railway Square development.

So what's everyone's thoughts? Or is it a bit too early?

Personally I think a bit of competition is great. Whether the crowd above in Patricks St. rise to the challenge or just decide to throw in the towel and let things slip even further remains to be seen.

Here's hoping the future as regards cinema is looking up for Waterford.

Sully

Iv been told the same as what you said earlier.

Once the new one opens, the old one closes its doors and will become a night club.

Mossy Monk

Good that it opens up so soon. Another choice for movies is always good .

Minfadlek

merlante wrote:

Christ, ****ing Tweedy again. Is there nobody else who will invest in Waterford???

I think small investors are too scared.... (mostly cus of a little lad called Mc 'something' :rolleyes: ) I don't know if Tweedy has ever had much/any trouble in that respect... ?

BBM77

I hope if the cinema is sold; whoever bought it will knock the yoke that is there to the ground and build something that fits in with the rest of Patrick’s St. The planner who gave permission for the front of what’s there now should be shot.