New Omniplex Drogheda

blingrhino

blingrhino wrote: »

bloody disgrace , 5 half empty shopping centres in drogheda and now they are spending OUR money on phase 2

Or else a very positive move to get people into the town centre rather than retail outlets. The spin off from those going to the cinema will benefit other businesses in the vicinity and bring some life into the town. Very benificial for Drogheda and with so many people going to the pavilions for the cinema it should bring a lot more people back into the town.

furiousox

I honestly don't think there's enough local population to support 4 cinemas

(Existing Omniplex, new Omniplex, Town Centre Odeon, Scotch Hall)

They'll more than likely all be showing the same films at the same times (more or less) and people will soon settle on one venue they like more than the others and go there.
It would be a shame to have 4 cinemas running and for 2 of them to shut down within 12 months.
I don't understand why there's never been a decent cinema in Drogheda and suddenly we will have 3, why didn't the Odeon open up a few years ago when everything was booming?

positron

Cynic in me still thinks the news release about of a new Omniplex was just a strategic move to attempt to discourage NAMA from approving Scotch Hall Phase 2. I hope I am proven wrong, as I would love to see a movies at a large size screen in Drogheda, but I don't know, when something sound too good to be true, it usually is.

blingrhino

Work has started on the cinemas in the town centre positron so definely going ahead .

positron

Okay, but I was referring to the Omniplex MAX announced near Homebase/HardlyNormal. Have they started works on that one too? Again, I would love to be proven wrong as we could certainly do with more jobs and activity.

Retro Police

Some lessons are never learned.

They can't fill the units in scotch hall phase 1, never mind a phase two. Even if there are no retail spaces included in the new plans and the building is purely for cinema and food outlets, it's still nonsense. Work is well underway on the new cinema in the town centre by the looks of things (a move that you would hope would reinvigorate the west street area) and there's hardly a shortage of restaurants/cafes etc in the town. What's worse is that this white elephant is not being funded by a company, instead it's tax money going to waste. Normally I'm all for extra shops/businesses coming to the town but this is stupidity of the highest order.

bryangiggsy

From what i read in paper...scotchhall phase 2 cinmea...has not even got a tenant eg...vue,odean,savoy etc....who is going to rent it with 2 other new cinemas opeing up. My preference would be build the big one at Homebase were parking is ample and free..and continue with the smaller one in the town centre...forget about scotch hall and the boyne one will prob end up showing alternative movies. (personally i think it should be raised to the ground)
I hope omniplex drive on with thier plans. Its a retail park.so planning permission should be a walk no?

peejay1986

I'm constantly hearing the argument that 'Scotch Hall has empty lots, so how are they going to fill new ones'. The greater the footfall in the centre, the greater demand there will be for lots. Getting a cinema and restaurants in to Scotch Hall is the best thing they could do for the place. People will go there for the cinema/restaurant and might pop in to a shop on the way in/out, when otherwise they wouldn't be in the Centre. I personally think Phase 2 is a great idea. Phase 1 was badly planned and should've included food outlets from the start.

Am I right in saying, that even if the Scotch Hall, Retail Park and Odeon cinemas get the go ahead, that the Boyne Centre cinema will also remain?

blingrhino

peejay1986 wrote: »

I'm constantly hearing the argument that 'Scotch Hall has empty lots, so how are they going to fill new ones'. The greater the footfall in the centre, the greater demand there will be for lots. Getting a cinema and restaurants in to Scotch Hall is the best thing they could do for the place. People will go there for the cinema/restaurant and might pop in to a shop on the way in/out, when otherwise they wouldn't be in the Centre. I personally think Phase 2 is a great idea. Phase 1 was badly planned and should've included food outlets from the start.

Am I right in saying, that even if the Scotch Hall, Retail Park and Odeon cinemas get the go ahead, that the Boyne Centre cinema will also remain?

Well why risk it?-its not exactly peanuts we are playing with ,and as said before not privately funded either.
if there was no alternative then yes it would be good for the town .
incidently the town centre cinema will not be a small operation ,five screens intially with planning sought for a further 4 and one of the five is some new wide hd ****e thats meant to be fab .

peejay1986

blingrhino wrote: »

Well why risk it?-its not exactly peanuts we are playing with ,and as said before not privately funded either.
if there was no alternative then yes it would be good for the town .
incidently the town centre cinema will not be a small operation ,five screens intially with planning sought for a further 4 and one of the five is some new wide hd ****e thats meant to be fab .

In my opinion, either putting the cinema in or Scotch Hall will deserted in a handful of years. There's not enough decent shops to attract customers and unless the footfall increases, then the big retailers have no reason to open up business there.

I can't see Omniplex doing this to themselves. Anyone with a brain can see that having 4 cinemas in the town is too many. Surely there'll pull the plug on one.

I think the Scotch Hall one is a winner though. Just thinking personally here - I can imagine myself heading up for some food (if decent food outlets open - GBK, Nandos etc) and then going to the cinema. Make a night of it. You can't really do that in the retail park, although it has the convenience factor for those coming from outside the town.

kormak

peejay1986 wrote: »

I can imagine myself heading up for some food (if decent food outlets open - GBK, Nandos etc) and then going to the cinema. Make a night of it. You can't really do that in the retail park, although it has the convenience factor for those coming from outside the town.

and then Wm Cairnes for a creamy pint of plain afterwards...

Dub in Louth

bryangiggsy wrote: »

From what i read in paper...scotchhall phase 2 cinmea...has not even got a tenant eg...vue,odean,savoy etc....who is going to rent it with 2 other new cinemas opeing up. My preference would be build the big one at Homebase were parking is ample and free..and continue with the smaller one in the town centre...forget about scotch hall and the boyne one will prob end up showing alternative movies. (personally i think it should be raised to the ground)
I hope omniplex drive on with thier plans. Its a retail park.so planning permission should be a walk no?

I read that the "Eye" cinema chain from Galway is the tenant for the Scotch Hall cinema. Seems to be a decent cinema that shows mainstream and also Arthouse films. www.eyecinema.ie
For my two cents, I am all for the scotch hall plans. There is a lot of work already done and along with some decent food offerings and maybe a new anchor tenant (Debenhams maybe), I think it will bring the footfall it needs.
I think the Omniplex will not go ahead.

http://www.retailexcellence.ie/index.php/news/20m-expansion-of-drogheda-shopping-centre-approved-by-nama/

CMpunked

blingrhino wrote: »

five screens intially with planning sought for a further 4 and one of the five is some new wide hd ****e thats meant to be fab .

iSense?

hawkwind23

no wonder the town is empty , the greed and shortsightedness of the council.
the toll is a big factor but what winds me up the most is the parking.
every inch of tarmac is zoned for miles around the town.
id go in more often if you could park for free

CMpunked

hawkwind23 wrote: »

no wonder the town is empty , the greed and shortsightedness of the council.
the toll is a big factor but what winds me up the most is the parking.
every inch of tarmac is zoned for miles around the town.
id go in more often if you could park for free

Scotch hall is 2 hours for a euro, free after 5 and sundays/bank holidays.

Lord TSC

Parking is going to be a huge factor, though not in terms of price imo.

Has there been any word about the outdoor car park in Scotch Hall and it's future? The closure of the outdoor park, and the subsequent push to force people to park in the indoor labyrinth, is what killed SH last time. I worry if they close off the current outdoor one, it will only serve to turn people away from the cinema. If they keep it open, then I think it stands a good chance of reinvigorating the entire shopping complex and move it back towards the glory it experienced a few years back.

Likewise, I worry about the parking in the West Street one; the town center car park is often full enough without dealing with the added traffic brought on by a cinema. I don't know if they could physically expand the current car park. As such, I think their current market will have to be people who are already going into town for other things, and as such, their opening times are going to be the deciding factor in it's success; if people are going into town, they might go if there's something on at the same time. But then cinemas in Ireland aren't always prone to having morning and early afternoon screenings.

I have a feeling that the one up at Argos will thus be the most successful. It's going to have the parking, it's located in an already busy area, and they seem to be pushing about how "nice" and high-tech it's going to be. In terms of location and parking (free, at that), it's got the advantage over the other two.

From a consumer point of view though, it's great to be going from one kip of a cinema to being spoiled for choice

CMpunked

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Parking is going to be a huge factor, though not in terms of price imo.

Has there been any word about the outdoor car park in Scotch Hall and it's future?

They have said there will be a 200 car park space built in the new section. They will need to for the hotel. Surely it can't be without a 24/7 accesible car park.
My guess is that the section which is walled in opposite the current scotch hall building will have its footprint as the new car park and then when they have that built and ready to be fitted out the existing ground car park will be done away with and they will work in that area.

hawkwind23

thanks for the info on the parking , checked it today , very good.
a forward step , in my case its about 5 quid fuel to get in and back and 4 or 5 quid parking meant I tended not to go as often

flyswatter

This is the kind of thinking that makes sense in Drogheda.

damingo

The Omniplex is trying to get planning permission for the big screen at harveynorman, a few objections have been put in to hold things up but its definitely going ahead. Its going to be the only one of its kind in the republic people will come from all over to use it an its right on the M1 so patrons wont even come into the town. The omniplex at the boyne centre is in the processs of getting digital screens and will be still open for at least the next 5 years because they signed a lease before all the competition started. I think its great to have scotch hall finally finished and a cinema is badly needed in the centre of the town. As for the town centre putting in cinemas is ridiculous, the reason being is that they are trying to get people back into the centre and this is their solution to build a 5 screen cinema that only holds about 100 people each, which is roughly the size of screen two in the existing ominplex. they should focus on getting better shops in the f*****g thing I queued for an hour outside hollister in Belfast and the accents in the queue were from all over the country. They should put in unusual but popular shops like Hollister, disney shop etc.

Rossin

there's only one disney store in ireland and it has lost a lot of money so far

im not worried about how many cinemas they try to open I just cant wait till I don't have to drive to Dublin

CMpunked

damingo wrote: »

As for the town centre putting in cinemas is ridiculous, the reason being is that they are trying to get people back into the centre and this is their solution to build a 5 screen cinema that only holds about 100 people each, which is roughly the size of screen two in the existing ominplex. they should focus on getting better shops in the f*****g thing

And why shouldnt they try and get people back into the centre? You say that as if its a preposterous thing to do.
How exactly do you know how many each screen will hold? Have you heard the news that its odeon taking on the lease? They aren't going to buy in to a project which is going to fail.
As for putting new shops in; SH is evidence that 'different' shops arent a great idea in drogheda so maybe the town centre should be applauded for trying to do something new and different rather just trying to compete with retail units against SH and bring people back towards the town for a different reason.

hawkwind23

will any of these new cinemas actually show any independent movies?
or will it be 3 options on a venue to watch the next Hollywood blockbuster?

blingrhino

damingo wrote: »

The Omniplex is trying to get planning permission for the big screen at harveynorman, a few objections have been put in to hold things up but its definitely going ahead. Its going to be the only one of its kind in the republic people will come from all over to use it an its right on the M1 so patrons wont even come into the town. The omniplex at the boyne centre is in the processs of getting digital screens and will be still open for at least the next 5 years because they signed a lease before all the competition started. I think its great to have scotch hall finally finished and a cinema is badly needed in the centre of the town. As for the town centre putting in cinemas is ridiculous, the reason being is that they are trying to get people back into the centre and this is their solution to build a 5 screen cinema that only holds about 100 people each, which is roughly the size of screen two in the existing ominplex. they should focus on getting better shops in the f*****g thing I queued for an hour outside hollister in Belfast and the accents in the queue were from all over the country. They should put in unusual but popular shops like Hollister, disney shop etc.

As its your first post I'll give u some leeway but to suggest that the retail park development is DifInitely going ahead is absurd if there is objections in , unless you know something we don't ??
Also even more ridiculous is to suggest shops like hollister or the Disney shop would be interested in the dtc as a retail location , they are doing well to be holding onto easons !

iPearly

Getting into town center is a nightmare and there isn't much to attract me there either. Assuming the cinema at m1 will happen it will be the winner. As far as SH- it's awkward to get into on the inside(lifts) and on the outside. It mostly caters for women 18-35 and I know that is the target market but many couples/people opt out from going there cause there's nothing to keep the men occupied . I like to go to a decent cinema, have a bite to eat and be able to look around shops for me and my husband. We travel to swords now but will be willing to swap it for m1 retail park if this thing goes ahead.

gipi

Just to avoid confusion, iPearly, the proposed cinema complex is for the Drogheda Retail Park on the Donore Rd (where Homebase and Argos are), not the M1 Retail Park which is on the other side of the town (it's where Woodies and Lidl are).

The only eateries up there at the moment are Costa Coffee or KFC, but I'm sure there'll be more if the cinema goes ahead.

iPearly

gipi wrote: »

Just to avoid confusion, iPearly, the proposed cinema complex is for the Drogheda Retail Park on the Donore Rd (where Homebase and Argos are), not the M1 Retail Park which is on the other side of the town (it's where Woodies and Lidl are).

The only eateries up there at the moment are Costa Coffee or KFC, but I'm sure there'll be more if the cinema goes ahead.

My bad for calling it m1. I am correct on the location though.

kbell

iPearly wrote: »

As far as SH- it's awkward to get into on the inside(lifts) and on the outside. It mostly caters for women 18-35 and I know that is the target market but many couples/people opt out from going there cause there's nothing to keep the men occupied.

Wm cairns & son keeps me occupied when herself is shopping :-)

Gaw_

I just read there in the Drogheda Independent that the planning permission for the new Omniplex (in the Retail Park) was denied. I'm a bit disappointed

blingrhino

Correct decision