THINGS are looking up for cinemagoers in York.
In October, work should finally begin on the long-delayed Community Stadium project. And as film buffs will know, the £41 million project will include a new, 13-screen cinema, one of which will be York’s first IMAX screen.
Now, upmarket cinema chain Everyman has revealed some of its plans for York’s most iconic picturehouse of them all: the Grade II listed former Odeon - more recently the Reel - in Blossom Street.
Everyman wants keep the five auditoria - but plans to renovate them and fit them out with its trademark larger sofa-style seats. Planning permission allowing, the foyer would also be renovated, with new glazing, a “Speilburger” bar/ restaurant and a false ceiling removed in the first floor lobby.
This all sounds exciting. The golden age of the picturehouse - when York seemed to have a cinema on every street corner - is long gone.
But there is still a certain magic about the movies. The shared experience of being part of an audience and watching a new release on the big screen is still something that the family TV - or even the latest box set streamed on to your tablet - can’t match.
With a new cinema at Monks Cross, the revamped Odeon, Vue out at Clifton Moor and the hugely-popular City Screen in the city centre, York should soon be able to offer enough choice to satisfy the most ardent of cinema lovers.
We can’t wait.
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