City Centre Cinemas (or lack thereof)

hailtothechimp

Depsite the fact that it eventually became a knack-infested heck-hole, the destruction of the Savoy leaves us sans city centre cinema for the first time since motion pictures first steamed their way over to the emerald isle.

A sad state of affairs I'm sure we all agree, but one that begs another question. Does anyone know what in tarnation is happening with the Theatre Royal? It is over 2 years since a group, under the auspices of The Belltable (the 'Belltable Filmhouse'), won a 750, 000 Euro grant from the Cultural Cinema Consortium (arts council). As I understood it at the time, the plan was to use this money to transform the Theatre Royal into a permanent Art House theatre. Nothing at all seems to have happened since then.

This is from the Arts Council website:

"In July 2003, under Phase One of the Consortium's capital investment scheme, it awarded capital investment funding valued at €750,000 each also to Kino in Cork and Belltable's Filmhouse in Limerick for development of art house cinema."

That page also announces funding for Solas in Galway, and the Light House in Dublin.

So what's happening with the Limerick money? I know the Belltable Film Club was being run out of the old Central Studio but has now retreated to the Belltable itself as that building is soon to be partially demolished. Is the money simply being used to run the film club itself? Are there now no plans to transform the Theatre Royal? Surely 750 k goes further than that, especially as the film club's 'films' are (to the best of my knowledge) simply projected dvds.

Anyone have any idea what's happening?

BLITZ_Molloy

There's a decent film club in Glor in Ennis (simply projected DVD's as you say). The attendance really picked up last year. 50+ people at most of the movies. You'd think they could do something similar in Limerick and break even at the least.

People in work would be saying what did you do for the weekend. "Went to see a movie about Mongolian camel farmers."

*Uncomfortable silence*

hailtothechimp

I'd heard of that club. Good to know that such things are popular, and that there's a market for agricultural Mongolian dramas!

The problem is not that there isn't such a club in Limerick (there is), but rather that the apparent promise of a permanent arthouse (and I hate that term) cinema in Limerick seems to have disappeared off the agenda.

bullets

Last time I saw the Royal open was when it was used
by some youth group to teach Kids things like
learning to Juggle and ride uni-cycles. This was
around the time when the Cranberries made it big
over in the USA and came back and played a gig there.

Other than that, I went to a night club there years ago and the only
other time I remember being in their was when Snow White and the
Karate Kid was playing when it was still a cinema!



~B

film_gonzo

bullets.ie wrote:

the only
other time I remember being in their was when Snow White and the
Karate Kid was playing when it was still a cinema!

~B

Jaysus 'Snow White and the Karate Kid'. Never saw that one. Sounds interesting. What's it about?

moshpit77

I don't particularly have a problem with there being no city centre cinema, there are 2 decent cinemas just a €1.25 bus ride away

hailtothechimp

moshpit77 wrote:

I don't particularly have a problem with there being no city centre cinema, there are 2 decent cinemas just a €1.25 bus ride away

By that logic there'd be no problem moving every single business in the centre out to the 'burbs! Oh wait, that's happening already...

The Omniplex and Storm are fine (for what they are) and serve those suburban/residential areas very well. Having said that, any city worth its salt should have a city centre venue where you can stroll out the door and go for a meal, or a pint, or whatever you're having yourself after the show. Aside from the pedestrian-friendly factor, such places breathe vital cultural air into a city, something we definitely need more of here.

It's the death knell of vibrant city centres if the 'donut effect' continues to grow apace.

mysterious

I can't believe you feel not bothered with a cinema in the city centre

every city and town has one!
its an embarressment.
alright you have them in the suburbs

what if you don't have a car
all though you could get a bus, to try solve this


But is the the type of social activity we do in a city drive out of town to have entertainment


Quite frankly not my idea of a city! :eek:


the city is a core , not a dough nut , and it can be scary when people don't realise this.

spinalsly

yes mysterious i agree with you, a cinema in the city centre is essential, it will definetly come but i just hope when they build it it wont be a piece of sh*t. hopefully it will be a very fancy one with a nice design to it, make it stand out and stuff.

Delphi91

hailtothechimp wrote:

...So what's happening with the Limerick money? I know the Belltable Film Club was being run out of the old Central Studio but has now retreated to the Belltable itself as that building is soon to be partially demolished. Is the money simply being used to run the film club itself? Are there now no plans to transform the Theatre Royal? Surely 750 k goes further than that, especially as the film club's 'films' are (to the best of my knowledge) simply projected dvds.

Anyone have any idea what's happening?

To the best of my knowledge (and somebody can correct me on this), the Belltable applied for this grant without being given permission to renovate/update/takeover the Theatre Royal by its owners, City of Limerick VEC.

moshpit77

I know other people don't agree with me on this one, it's just my personal opinion. Even when the Savoy was still open I went to the Omniplex, simply because the place was like a skobe magnet and I wanted to watch movies in peace.

spinalsly

the savoy was a **** hole, thats why i hope when they build a new cineam in the city centre it will be a non **** hole

gaf1983

I thought I read that the Belltable film club is gonna show films once a week in Savoy 2 on Bedford Row. Still it would be great if there was a city centre cinema that showed films every night of the week, for the reasons listed by Mysterious, hailtothechimp and others.

BLITZ_Molloy

The reason the Savoy was **** was they hadn't any staff. They had people come in and clean up once a day or something. Every other cinema has a couple of people going in after each screening. They just brushed all the **** to the side for later. No wonder the place was rotten with rats and mice.

And it wouldn't have been hard to turf the knacks out. Should have had a security guard go around before screenings and ask any of the scumbags for their ticket and escort them out of there. They were sneaking in and going to 4 or 5 films in a row.

limerick_man

Of corse the fact that you could hear bowling and not the movie in some screens wasnt too great about the place either