Old Cinema Patrick’s St

BBM77

Hi all,

Just wondering does anybody know what is happening with the Old Cinema on Patrick’s St. There has been work going on there the last couple of weeks. It would be great to see it put back to some use.

madfcuker

BBM77 wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wondering does anybody know what is happening with the Old Cinema on Patrick’s St. There has been work going on there the last couple of weeks. It would be great to see it put back to some use.

Over the last few months I have seen surveyors and engineers come and go. I've wonder what is going in there. It will be great to see the building used again.

MitchKoobski

From what I've heard before, whoever owned it saw no point in renovating it because they did not like Waterford as a business setting.

Hopefully it has been sold or leased to someone else since then.

fricatus

MitchKoobski wrote: »

From what I've heard before, whoever owned it saw no point in renovating it because they did not like Waterford as a business setting.

Hopefully it has been sold or leased to someone else since then.

This is why we should have had a site value tax instead of the property tax in its current guise. People like this should be encouraged to p155 or get off the pot. There is some sort of derelict site tax now, but I don't know anything about the details. Maybe this will encourage movement.

Squidvicious

It's reopening as a cinema in December. I happened to see a couple of workmen outside it on Friday so I asked them and that's what they said.

burkey85

Terrible to see such a location left idle, always thought it would make a great club/venue

The Bowling Alley

Would be great to see it reopen but I don't think Waterford City is prosperous enough for two cinemas.

BBM77

Squidvicious wrote: »

It's reopening as a cinema in December. I happened to see a couple of workmen outside it on Friday so I asked them and that's what they said.

Great thanks. That is what I was hoping. It will help create activity in the area after 5:30.

burkey85

Is the one cinema we have even doing enough business?

BBM77

The Bowling Alley wrote: »

Would be great to see it reopen but I don't think Waterford City is prosperous enough for two cinemas.

Don’t agree with you on that. Railway Sq is often booked out, I think Waterford has under capacity when it comes to cinemas.

Chip Whitley

Hopefully it will mean a greater choice of films. I'm assuming that it was licensing issues that meant Odeon didn't get The Skeleton Twins. It was a film I was looking forward to, but it never came in. Another cinema will hopefully mean a bigger range of films!

kryogen

Not enough business to support two cinemas

reni10

Hopefully they could make it into a more arthouse cinema showing a mix of the artier mainstream films and also mix it up with foreign and non mainstream independent movies.

Something like the Lighthouse Cinema only on a smaller scale would be great:
http://www.lighthousecinema.ie/

I think what could work quiet well especially coming into the winter would be some sort of Movie Club subscription so say something like you pay €50 for the month and you can go to any 10 movies etc.

Also some older Themed weeks like Horror movies all over Halloween, specific Director movie weeks, Christmas movies etc.

sillysocks

Kind of off topic but Garter Lane seem to be showing a few non-mainstream films once or twice a week. Worth a look!

The Bowling Alley

It's Omniplex, it aint going to be arthouse.

fricatus

The Bowling Alley wrote: »

Would be great to see it reopen but I don't think Waterford City is prosperous enough for two cinemas.

burkey85 wrote: »

Is the one cinema we have even doing enough business?

kryogen wrote: »

Not enough business to support two cinemas

If someone's planning on opening up a new cinema, as appears to be the case, I would say your back-of-a-fag-packet market research is probably wrong lads?

Either the new people reckon there's enough profitable business to share with Odeon, or else they reckon they can drive Odeon out - which is doubtful given their deep pockets.

Of course they may eventually be proved wrong (and me with them), but in the meantime it can only be good news for local cinema-goers, who should see better prices and a wider choice of films if a second cinema does open.

The Bowling Alley

fricatus wrote: »

If someone's planning on opening up a new cinema, as appears to be the case, I would say your back-of-a-fag-packet market research is probably wrong lads?

Either the new people reckon there's enough profitable business to share with Odeon, or else they reckon they can drive Odeon out - which is doubtful given their deep pockets.

Of course they may eventually be proved wrong (and me with them), but in the meantime it can only be good news for local cinema-goers, who should see better prices and a wider choice of films if a second cinema does open.

Your smart arse response aside, it's not a massive gamble for them if they already own the building.

reni10

The Bowling Alley wrote: »

It's Omniplex, it aint going to be arthouse.

It will be closed within the year unless it offers the same facilities and much cheaper prices then Odeon...

Real opportunity missed to have an alternative cinema which would have a chance of survival on its own but there you go!

Luckycharms_74

reni10 wrote: »

It will be closed within the year unless it offers the same facilities and much cheaper prices then Odeon...

Real opportunity missed to have an alternative cinema which would have a chance of survival on its own but there you go!

They are gonnna have what's called a OmniplexMAXX giant screen. It looks deadly in fairness

http://tours.360vr.ie/108-2011/

AdMMM

reni10 wrote: »

Hopefully they could make it into a more arthouse cinema showing a mix of the artier mainstream films and also mix it up with foreign and non mainstream independent movies.

Something like the Lighthouse Cinema only on a smaller scale would be great:
http://www.lighthousecinema.ie/

I think what could work quiet well especially coming into the winter would be some sort of Movie Club subscription so say something like you pay €50 for the month and you can go to any 10 movies etc.

Also some older Themed weeks like Horror movies all over Halloween, specific Director movie weeks, Christmas movies etc.

The Lighthouse only barely survives up in Dublin!

kryogen

fricatus wrote: »

If someone's planning on opening up a new cinema, as appears to be the case, I would say your back-of-a-fag-packet market research is probably wrong lads?

Either the new people reckon there's enough profitable business to share with Odeon, or else they reckon they can drive Odeon out - which is doubtful given their deep pockets.

Of course they may eventually be proved wrong (and me with them), but in the meantime it can only be good news for local cinema-goers, who should see better prices and a wider choice of films if a second cinema does open.

I would wager my back of a fag packet market research will prove to better then your back of a fag packet market research if you like?

Odeon barely gets by. Two cinemas will not work and all the smart arse comments in the world won't change that

kryogen

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

They are gonnna have what's called a OmniplexMAXX giant screen. It looks deadly in fairness

http://tours.360vr.ie/108-2011/

Pretty impressive alright

SweetCaliber

I don't know,

The old cinema used to be fairly cheap, and when Storm came along they were also fairly cheap.

It was when the old cinema finally closed its doors Storm bumped up their prices and Odeon seemed to adapt to those prices.

If the cinema was to open up again, and could pull off cheaper prices as in the food and drinks, like odeon's prices are disgraceful, a large coke is nearly a fiver.

That and its location, being right in the center of town could be a deal breaker for it. If it was cheaper, heck if it opened up again I find it much easier to get to the old cinema than I do Odeon. Besides, the area in which Odeon is situated has always been fair dodgy.

Be nice to see it open again, that is if they manage to scrub the place to death, I'd say it's in some state.

Shane07

At least its another place open in town which is good to see! It would have made an ideal spot for a big department store though! Still a positive story though!

robtri

kryogen wrote: »

I would wager my back of a fag packet market research will prove to better then your back of a fag packet market research if you like?

Odeon barely gets by. Two cinemas will not work and all the smart arse comments in the world won't change that

how do you know what Odeon's profitability is in Waterford?

have you any numbers to back it up?



if you honestly believe that Omni are opening the cinema on a whim I think you would be sadly mistaken, I would be confident that they have done there numbers to be confident it works, I doubt they are throwing a few million into this venture without researching it....

jayboi

I always thought the biggest problem between the new and old cinemas besides the ease of parking at the new cinema was the seating, in odeon each row is considerably lower/higher then the other where as in the omniplex it ony had a gradual slope. The magic road up the comraghs seemed to have more of an incline.

If it's reopening I think they need to offer more for less if they are to surrive. Better viewing angles, better seating ie all premium seating and cheaper food and drink.

MitchKoobski

If they have a separate desk/till for tickets and a separate one for food/drink, they'll already have a step up on Odeon.

wellboytoo

They owe 0 on the building only their fit out costs I think pricing will be the first thing they will challenge Odeon on and it is great for the City Centre to get life back into it.more good news on that front in the next few weeks.

cookie.monster

am getting pissed off with odeon they now have reduced the size of there large drinks to the medium size cups cheapskates and this does'nt reflect it in the price, i'd defo support omniplex if it is true that they are reopening

BBM77

Shane07 wrote: »

At least its another place open in town which is good to see! It would have made an ideal spot for a big department store though! Still a positive story though!

I know what you mean but it’s better as a cinema. That part of the city centre badly needs things that are open after 5:30 and help prevent this evening ghost town feel that it has suffered from in recent years. If the OmniplexMAXX comes to pass it will be a huge draw and will really keep life in that area much longer than at present.

sillysocks

It'd be nice to have a cinema where you can pick your seats when booking so you don't have to turn up ages before to get a good seat, especially for a popular film.

The one drawback to the old cinema site is the lack of parking right at it I'd say.

SweetCaliber

jayboi wrote: »

I always thought the biggest problem between the new and old cinemas besides the ease of parking at the new cinema was the seating, in odeon each row is considerably lower/higher then the other where as in the omniplex it ony had a gradual slope. The magic road up the comraghs seemed to have more of an incline.

If it's reopening I think they need to offer more for less if they are to surrive. Better viewing angles, better seating ie all premium seating and cheaper food and drink.

Id say they definately did their research especially if they are going to be competing with another cinema, they will have to be one step ahead of odeon while they have the opportunity to do so like the seperate ticket desk for example. And the slopes of the rows of seats.

jayboi

SweetCaliber wrote: »

Id say they definately did their research especially if they are going to be competing with another cinema, they will have to be one step ahead of odeon while they have the opportunity to do so like the seperate ticket desk for example. And the slopes of the rows of seats.

If the slope isn't improved its doomed from the get go.

If I remember the old place correct best place to park was behind it which wasn't the nicest/safest place to be walking at night and then you had to walk through that little alleyway to Patrick street that always had a few dodgy characters hanging around.

SweetCaliber

jayboi wrote: »

If the slope isn't improved its doomed from the get go.

If I remember the old place correct best place to park was behind it which wasn't the nicest/safest place to be walking at night and then you had to walk through that little alleyway to Patrick street that always had a few dodgy characters hanging around.

Yeah parking was always a problem, then again, they could try set up a deal with qpark on the quay, discounted parking or such...

mooseknunkle

Parking shouldn't really be a problem its really just down to people being lazy and wanting to park right next to the entrance, within a 5 minutes walk of patricks street you have ballybricken,the quay,city square,and also the new car park beside the city arms.

deadybai

What prices do ye feel a ticket to the cinema should be? In my opinion 5 or 6 euro is plenty for a ticket to see a flim. 9.80 in odeon is some joke. I think they are doing themselves more harm with that price

Max Powers

deadybai wrote: »

What prices do ye feel a ticket to the cinema should be? In my opinion 5 or 6 euro is plenty for a ticket to see a flim. 9.80 in odeon is some joke. I think they are doing themselves more harm with that price

i paid about 14€ in dublin recently

ec18

deadybai wrote: »

What prices do ye feel a ticket to the cinema should be? In my opinion 5 or 6 euro is plenty for a ticket to see a flim. 9.80 in odeon is some joke. I think they are doing themselves more harm with that price

doesn't seem too bad I remember paying £5 in the old cinema so in euro 7.82? (if memory serves). I think about 10 for a ticket is ok, considering cinemas are a lot better and more comfortable then they used to be. i.e I can see an increase in the quality of the service I get for the increased price

Chip Whitley

deadybai wrote: »

What prices do ye feel a ticket to the cinema should be? In my opinion 5 or 6 euro is plenty for a ticket to see a flim. 9.80 in odeon is some joke. I think they are doing themselves more harm with that price

Couldn't see the new old cinema being cheaper than €8.00 or €8.50 tbh.

AdMMM

Simply having a modern fit out will already put them at an advantage over Odeon... Lets not forget that one of the main reasons why Storm were able to put the final nail in the life of the Cineplex was because that cinema was a kip and falling apart. People were beginning to abandon it to do other things with their time long before Storm were looking at entering the market.

The city centre is almost by definition a much better location for a cinema and it should extend the time people stay in the city, hopefully spending more money in shops, cafes and bars in the immediate surroundings.

SweetCaliber

deadybai wrote: »

What prices do ye feel a ticket to the cinema should be? In my opinion 5 or 6 euro is plenty for a ticket to see a flim. 9.80 in odeon is some joke. I think they are doing themselves more harm with that price

Considering Odeon can pull off 5 euro wednesday tickets, just goes to show how much profit is usually made and then odeons snacks, sweets and popcorn, well, that just them being very greedy because they have little competition.

sparkling sea

mooseknunkle wrote: »

Parking shouldn't really be a problem its really just down to people being lazy and wanting to park right next to the entrance, within a 5 minutes walk of patricks street you have ballybricken,the quay,city square,and also the new car park beside the city arms.

Thats people for you, people with elderly parnets who may have walking difficulties sure they don't matter. People who have many types of arthritis, othe health problems and have problems with hills fcuk them, even though there are loads of people who fall into this category; sure our town is only for the perfect, unlazy, eco friendly types - and thats why its on its knees but once it can limp along, thats all that matters.

We should learn our lesson from Next city centres shop which closed as oppossed to Next Ardkeen shop which is booming.

mooseknunkle

sparkling sea wrote: »

Thats people for you, people with elderly parnets who may have walking difficulties sure they don't matter. People who have many types of arthritis, othe health problems and have problems with hills fcuk them, even though there are loads of people who fall into this category; sure our town is only for the perfect, unlazy, eco friendly types - and thats why its on its knees but once it can limp along, thats all that matters.

We should learn our lesson from Next city centres shop which closed as oppossed to Next Ardkeen shop which is booming.

Ive no idea why you went off on one but ill reply anyway,simple solution to the problem is whoever is driving their parents and assuming they also dont have walking difficulties just park at the back of the cinema drop the parents off and return to park the car in another spot,are you suggesting im eco friendly or just all Waterford folk?

The Bowling Alley

The main advantage of having a cinema in town, as I see it, is that right now there's a distinct lack of that type of family friendly entertainment in the city centre. Another point is that sometimes people can be strolling around town and suddenly decide to kill a few hours with a film. With the odeon where it is you will have probably made your decision to go well in advance.

SweetCaliber

sparkling sea wrote: »

Thats people for you, people with elderly parnets who may have walking difficulties sure they don't matter. People who have many types of arthritis, othe health problems and have problems with hills fcuk them, even though there are loads of people who fall into this category; sure our town is only for the perfect, unlazy, eco friendly types - and thats why its on its knees but once it can limp along, thats all that matters.

We should learn our lesson from Next city centres shop which closed as oppossed to Next Ardkeen shop which is booming.

If you have walking difficulties then you should get dropped off outside the cinema, you can drive past it so dropping off is no problem. You can be collected then afterwards.

TrustedApple

deadybai wrote: »

What prices do ye feel a ticket to the cinema should be? In my opinion 5 or 6 euro is plenty for a ticket to see a flim. 9.80 in odeon is some joke. I think they are doing themselves more harm with that price

Me and my friends never pay more then €5 euro a ticket when we see a film ..... your just doing it wrong paying full prices. At the moment to the end of the month you get 40% from Odeon by getting a code form there site witch you can use inside or when you book your tickets online.

If people are not happy paying the cost of popcorn and drinks in odeon go across the road to some magic place called Tesco. But having said that one of my friends got a large coke the other day and we where in shock with how small it was and every time we go where thinking the popcorn and drinks are getting smaller.

Odeon is probably one of the easiest places to get in waterford and there is 2 carparks right next to it.

Also i have been to plenty of films in Odeon in witch there was maybe 20 people and some times if you see something thats not a major film you could be the only people in the screen. There main days are Saturday night and wednesday night it any other day can be very quite in there.

But has anyone conformed that the old place is reopening ?. But if its getting the OmniplexMAXX screen is there room for it in there ?. As down in cork to had to build on to there largest screen to make it fit

waterford mma

Great news, will be a nice boost to the surrounding businesses. I remember going to Rellises or Bescos for cinema food and then to supermacs afterwards. Now it's only Tescos getting a cut of my cinema budget.

SweetCaliber

samapple789 wrote: »

Me and my friends never pay more then €5 euro a ticket when we see a film ..... your just doing it wrong paying full prices. At the moment to the end of the month you get 40% from Odeon by getting a code form there site witch you can use inside or when you book your tickets online.

If people are not happy paying the cost of popcorn and drinks in odeon go across the road to some magic place called Tesco. But having said that one of my friends got a large coke the other day and we where in shock with how small it was and every time we go where thinking the popcorn and drinks are getting smaller.

Odeon is probably one of the easiest places to get in waterford and there is 2 carparks right next to it.

Also i have been to plenty of films in Odeon in witch there was maybe 20 people and some times if you see something thats not a major film you could be the only people in the screen. There main days are Saturday night and wednesday night it any other day can be very quite in there.

But has anyone conformed that the old place is reopening ?. But if its getting the OmniplexMAXX screen is there room for it in there ?. As down in cork to had to build on to there largest screen to make it fit

Once again, the old cinema was right in the center of town, thats like saying pennys and argos and such are hard to get to.

Odeons Wednesday deal is good, but because of it the place is always jam packed.

Unfortunately the popcorn you get in tesco, pre packed tastes nothing like proper cinema popcorn, then again odeon's always tastes too dry as if its been sitting there for hours.

Better off getting a large popcorn and a big bottle of coke from xtra vision and bringing it, their popcorn is savage and only 3 euro for a large, add on the drink and it would be around a fiver at most, half the price of odeons and twice as nice and you get a fairly large bottle of coke, more than you get in a "large cup" from odeon.

Then again, there has been no confirmation if the place is reopening, but based on the inside of the place at the moment, all new cabinets look to be in place where the old ones were (the snacks and popcorn counters).

I remember screen one being fairly big in the old cinema, they might even combine screen one and two together and build on if they do introduce the OmniplexMAXX screen.

Speak Now

SweetCaliber wrote: »

Once again, the old cinema was right in the center of town, thats like saying pennys and argos and such are hard to get to.

Odeons Wednesday deal is good, but because of it the place is always jam packed.

Unfortunately the popcorn you get in tesco, pre packed tastes nothing like proper cinema popcorn, then again odeon's always tastes too dry as if its been sitting there for hours.

Better off getting a large popcorn and a big bottle of coke from xtra vision and bringing it, their popcorn is savage and only 3 euro for a large, add on the drink and it would be around a fiver at most, half the price of odeons and twice as nice and you get a fairly large bottle of coke, more than you get in a "large cup" from odeon.

Then again, there has been no confirmation if the place is reopening, but based on the inside of the place at the moment, all new cabinets look to be in place where the old ones were (the snacks and popcorn counters).

I remember screen one being fairly big in the old cinema, they might even combine screen one and two together and build on if they do introduce the OmniplexMAXX screen.

I think screen 1 and 4 were upstairs on opposite sides of the buildings and screens 2, 3 and 5 downstairs.
1 was a decent size alright, very little between 2,3 and 4.
5 was very small, it was the one facing Patrick street.
The ones they could probably combine are numbers 2 and 3 but I don't think they'd have enough depth for the MAXX screen.

TrustedApple

SweetCaliber wrote: »

Once again, the old cinema was right in the center of town, thats like saying pennys and argos and such are hard to get to.

Odeons Wednesday deal is good, but because of it the place is always jam packed.

Unfortunately the popcorn you get in tesco, pre packed tastes nothing like proper cinema popcorn, then again odeon's always tastes too dry as if its been sitting there for hours.

Better off getting a large popcorn and a big bottle of coke from xtra vision and bringing it, their popcorn is savage and only 3 euro for a large, add on the drink and it would be around a fiver at most, half the price of odeons and twice as nice and you get a fairly large bottle of coke, more than you get in a "large cup" from odeon.

Then again, there has been no confirmation if the place is reopening, but based on the inside of the place at the moment, all new cabinets look to be in place where the old ones were (the snacks and popcorn counters).

I remember screen one being fairly big in the old cinema, they might even combine screen one and two together and build on if they do introduce the OmniplexMAXX screen.

But parking at night time is a lot harder at that end of the town compare to down at Odeon. Pennys and argos are day time stores so plenty of parking around for it during the day with the multistorys open.

With Popcorn in Odeon its pre made and comes in huge plastic bags where they just re heat it so it would have been sitting around before you eat it.

Would help is there was more then 2 xtra visions in waterford and would also help if they where not miles away from Odeon to get your popcorn. But having said that popcorn in xtra vision is quite nice.

But it will be good having another Cinema in waterford as long as there is more films to pick from and not the same films in both i will happily go to both. But will it be a Omniplex or a IMC ? as they have completely spit up the group now.

SweetCaliber

samapple789 wrote: »

But parking at night time is a lot harder at that end of the town compare to down at Odeon. Pennys and argos are day time stores so plenty of parking around for it during the day with the multistorys open.

With Popcorn in Odeon its pre made and comes in huge plastic bags where they just re heat it so it would have been sitting around before you eat it.

Would help is there was more then 2 xtra visions in waterford and would also help if they where not miles away from Odeon to get your popcorn. But having said that popcorn in xtra vision is quite nice.

But it will be good having another Cinema in waterford as long as there is more films to pick from and not the same films in both i will happily go to both. But will it be a Omniplex or a IMC ? as they have completely spit up the group now.

Both valid points but with ballybricken up the road and the quay 5 mins away, shouldnt be too much hassle to park