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Plans to create an extra screen at York’s Reel Cinema have hit a glitch with City of York Council

10:41am Saturday 14th November 2009 in


A conservation officer has said he cannot support proposed internal alterations to the former Odeon building which would allow for the installation of a small fourth screen.

Reel, which re-opened the Blossom Street picturehouse earlier this year following a refurbishment, wants to create the 40-seat screen in former offices on the first floor. Boss Kailash Suri has said the extra screen would be a very important addition, allowing the company to show more films and stage special screenings.

But conservation officer Mark Barratt said in a report that while the conversion of the office could “potentially be supported,” he is opposed to some of the proposed alterations to the Art Deco Grade II listed building.

“The proposed insertion of flat plasterboard studwork in the former office area hides the curve of the internal wall and windows from view,” he said. “In doing so, this fails to preserve the character of the building as one of special architectural or historic interest.” He said applicants for listed building consent had to be able to justify their proposals and explain why works which affected their character were desirable or necessary. “In this instance, there is no explanation of how the proposals was arrived at, and less intrusive options aimed at attenuating external noise do not appear to have been considered.” He said the effect on the building’s external appearance had not been considered either.

“Although I could support the conversion of the office and ancillary rooms to a cinema screen, I am of the opinion that the alterations proposed harm the character of the building.

“A revised scheme, with a full written justification, which preserves both the historic fabric and key design features of the building, could be supported.”

Mr Suri said was unavailable for comment.

Comments(20)

Desperately seeking suction says...
11:11am Sat 14 Nov 09

It's great how our obsession with preserving buildings with limited historical value can inhibit advancement in the present. the installation of stud walling is not destroying or removing the original curved walls, just covering them so they fit a new purpose. If there was this attitude towards new building and alterations throughout York's history we'd still be living in mud huts rooting around in the dirt.

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RingoStarr says...
11:12am Sat 14 Nov 09

“In doing so, this fails to preserve the character of the building as one of special architectural or historic interest.”...

...to all those thousands of historians who will pour into an empty old building, presumably?

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LittleTed says...
11:24am Sat 14 Nov 09

RingoStarr wrote:
“In doing so, this fails to preserve the character of the building as one of special architectural or historic interest.”...

...to all those thousands of historians who will pour into an empty old building, presumably?
I'm one for fighting furiously for the preservation and correct presentation of historic buildings, yet I believe Ringo makes an excellent and valid point. As long as no harm comes to the
historic features let them get on with it.

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sun seeker's says...
11:26am Sat 14 Nov 09

Didn't think they would just give the go-ahead straight away. Seems the norm for CofYC to object to anything and everything. Long drawn out affairs for everything that moves the City forward.

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humpty numpty says...
11:47am Sat 14 Nov 09

when mark barrett returns from never never land he may wish to reflect on the odeon being an empty building again. here in medieval world the computor says no

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Dynamic says...
12:21pm Sat 14 Nov 09

Why not go the whole hog and return the building to the condition Oscar Deutch ordered it in?

It would be useless but no more so than Mark Barrett.

It is akin to the objectors of the barriers at York Railway Station. Forgive me if I am wrong but weren't there cast iron 6 feet high manned barriers there from the beginnings of the station and only relatively recently removed?

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Ghost of Oscar Deutsch says...
12:30pm Sat 14 Nov 09

The proposed area for this new small screen are former offices and having seen them there are no historic features of any merit. The decoration was reserved for the public areas where they'd be seen.
Using redundant space is nothing new and I'd much rather see this happen than the carve up of the cities largest cinema auditorium any day.
A bit of common sense is needed here.

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Guy Fawkes says...
2:59pm Sat 14 Nov 09

If they did return it to the condition Oscar Deutsch ordered it in - a 2,000 seat auditorium with a decent sized screen - I'd start going like a shot. The atmosphere of seeing a film with a crowd that size and the decent technical presentation such an auditorium would offer would be enough to lure me away from the Blu-Ray player and LCOS projector in my living room. But the screen they're proposing will be no bigger than that in most home cinema installations and the unbalanced acoustics resulting from a stud wall on one side will be dreadful.

I thought the cinema industry had learnt its lesson from the shoddy, draughty, poor-sounding and bad sightlined twinning and tripling phase in the 1970s. No wonder home video took off so quickly when these grim and pokey auditoria were the best that proper cinema could offer. It seems that Mr. Suri wants to repeat the same mistake.

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addynuff says...
4:33pm Sat 14 Nov 09

shut it down mr suri.if it s not for the benefit of the tourists then ycc will find a means of obstructing progress.the building would fall into disrepair and be of no use to anyone but the shortsightedness of city officials is astounding.give a little man a bit of power and look what happens.

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RingoStarr says...
5:39pm Sat 14 Nov 09

Small point. What's the photo of the mural artist at York Art Gallery doing on the top of this story?

Are they related? I think not!

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jenkil2001 says...
7:49pm Sat 14 Nov 09

York council's records would show that anything which is for the benefit of the people of York is always turned down.


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piaggio says...
10:24pm Sat 14 Nov 09

conservation officer Mark Barratt ??

get a real job! stop annoying everyone

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RingoStarr says...
11:12am Sun 15 Nov 09

piaggio wrote:
conservation officer Mark Barratt ?? get a real job! stop annoying everyone
Oh, come on! Mr Barrett has to justify his existence (and salary!)somehow.

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Vauxhall Viva says...
3:32pm Sun 15 Nov 09

What a joke. It was only a few years ago that a very similar building, the old Mecca Bingo building, was given permission to be flattened. Double standards yet again from this pathetic department of the council.

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meme says...
9:39am Mon 16 Nov 09

Conservation offices do not have to consider economics.They get paid by our taxes and they live in a make believe land of 'lets preserve it at whatever cost' Its lunacy not to let someone improve the commercial offering as if they do not it will close down again and just rot this time
Show some sense and let them get on with it

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oldgoat says...
1:19pm Mon 16 Nov 09

Frankly they've a mountain to climb to make this cinema worth it again. A cheap paint job and some supposedly new seats that look exactly the same is nowhere near enough to equal City Screen or Vue.
Do something serious with screen 1 before messing with the rest.

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LocalWolf says...
3:22pm Mon 16 Nov 09

It's thanks to YCC that we were without this cinema in the first place. Perhaps Mr Barrett should save his (mis)use of power for one of the important buildings.
n.b. unless you worked at the Odeon you will never have seen the minor details that he is so keen to preserve.

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metsa says...
3:38pm Mon 16 Nov 09

piaggio wrote:
conservation officer Mark Barratt ?? get a real job! stop annoying everyone
Yeah, that's right, let's have a pop at a guy doing his job. The officer is not saying that changes can't be made, merely that they need to be relooked at. He's constrained by the law and planning regulations, which he's obliged as a council officer to enforce. There's plenty of people on Your Say who'd be happy to jump down the throat of anyone working for local government who was caught bending the rules for planning purposes. It might be more sense if you complained about the existing regulations,rather than those whose job it is to enforce them. I assume that all those who are complaining made responses to the consultations for the Heritage Protection Review? No, thought not!

The people who run the cinema know perfectly well that its a Grade II Listed Building and consequently should have made sure their plans complied with the regulations before submitting them, surely not rocket science?


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Maquis says...
9:25pm Mon 16 Nov 09

If it was a big company like vue, the application would have passed straight away

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shadowpig says...
10:23pm Tue 17 Nov 09

they should consider fixing the other screens before thinking about expanding! the seats in screen 1 are horrible, i'm 5'8" & i HAVE to put my legs over the seat in front to be remotely comfortable, screens two and three are slightly better for seating, but twice now i have been to a showing in screen two and been greeted with crackling speakers and very quiet audio, never mind the size of the screens being what they are!

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