City Screen is 20 years old this month. MAXINE GORDON looks back at its history and its iconic position on the York riverside.

FILM fans in York have been enjoying a cinema boom of late, with the new Cineworld opening at Monks Cross and a revamped Vue at Clifton Moor.

But the same was happening exactly 20 years ago when City Screen first opened its three-screen cinema in the refurbished offices of the former Evening Press and Yorkshire Herald building on the Ouse riverside at Coney Street. The cinema complex, which cost £5 million, is reached down a side lane from Coney Street with St Martin le Grand church on the right hand side.

The site had lain empty since The Press moved its operations to Walmgate in 1989.

When City Screen opened its doors on January 14, 2000, one of the first films it showed was Buena Vista Social Club, the 1999 documentary film directed by Wim Wenders about the music of Cuba. To mark the anniversary, City Screen will be showing the film in its original 35mm format in a members-only screening tomorrow. It will be one of many events to mark the anniversary year – during which the cinema will continue to raise funds for its designated charity, Refuge, which supports victims of domestic abuse.

Although City Screen may be 20 years old, its origins date back to the 19th century.

Dave Taylor, marketing manager of City Screen, explains: "City Screen’s origins begin at the end of the 19th century when a small society was set up that screened film at York Theatre Royal."

The aim of the society was ‘to advance the education of the public in film as an art and as a medium for information education and social enlightenment with particular reference to the County of York and City of York and to promote the study of films’.

Dave said it prospered after the First World War, and in 1937 was accepted as a branch member of the British Film Institute.

"The film society became York Film Theatre, a BFI Regional Film Theatre, and took up a permanent home in Central Hall at the University of York – its first film was the Czech movie Red Mantle, screened on October 20, 1968."

The film theatre opened a second venue in 1987 at Tempest Anderson Hall in the Museum Gardens, opening with Nicholas Roeg’s film Castaway. It also became a registered charity.

Then in 1997 the York Film Theatre entered into a ground breaking public/private partnership with a commercial arts cinema group, coincidentally called City Screen Limited, to create a new art house cinema in the centre of York.

In 1998 the partnership won an Arts Council Lottery Award of £2.37 million – this figure was matched by City Screen Ltd, and the current premises for City Screen were bought and renovated.

London-based architects Panter Hudspith oversaw the build, and ensured many of the iconic and historic aspects of the site were retained. For example, you can still see the Yorkshire Herald sign on the riverside exterior and the large windows of the former press hall now allow unrivalled views of the river to cinemagoers.

Dave adds: "The architects strove to maintain a view to St Martin le Grand from within the new staircase where the old Yorkshire Herald met the new concrete and glass extension which forms the Riverside Café-Bar and Screen Three above it."

As part of the development, a new riverside walkway was constructed along the building, allowing public access to this stretch of the river for the first time. The walkway connected through to the neighbouring Ebor Hall which was also been restored and extended by Panter Hudspith.

Tony Clarke, general manager of City Screen, says the development has been of huge benefit to York. "It is a part of the regeneration of the city centre in terms of opening up the river and what's happening culturally in the city centre. It is a place where people come to meet socially and for business."

The Basement of the complex is host to live comedy and music. Artists also display their work throughout the premises.

City Screen has a commitment to using film to engage the wider community, added Tony. It runs a series of clubs and screening sessions for people of all ages as well as autism and dementia friendly events. Thursday before 5pm is Silver Screen day, when ticket prices are reduced for seniors and include tea and biscuits.

There have been technological changes over the decades too. Back in 2000, films arrived on reels that were projected onto screen. Today, films are downloaded and the entire process had been digitised.

This has allowed for some novel experiences, says Tony, such as live screenings of world class music, opera and cinema events, from the likes of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the National Theatre in London, which are now some of the cinema's hottest tickets.