Curtain up on new bid to open Wellington Clifton
Twenty-five years ago 30,000 people desperately tried to save the cinema in Wellington from the axe.
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But despite cinema-goers signing petitions in their droves, the Clifton cinema was closed.
Now, nearly three decades on, a new battle has been launched to bring the venue in Bridge Road back to life.
Media students at Telford College of Arts and Technology have launched a campaign to try to get it reopened after gaining huge public support.
The Clifton opened in January 1937 screening a Shirley Temple film and shut in April 1983. Part of the site was reopened in 1987 as a Saverite supermarket, but it was closed again in 1988.
The site was later converted to house a laser gun entertainment complex in a £250,000 refit in 1993.
In recent years the building has been used by Dunelm but is now on the market after the home furnishings giant moved out of the site in May to the Forge Retail Park, in Telford.
A spokesman for estate agents Cushman and Wakefield said the two former Dunelm buildings, which originally housed the cinema, were either to be let or sold. The 18,000 sq ft building will cost £120,000 per annum to lease or £850,000 to buy.
The smaller building is £50,000 per annum to lease or £450,000 to buy.
But students surveyed residents as part of their HND media studies course and discovered massive support for the idea to bring the cinema back.
Mature student Kevin Lafferty, 47, from Cheswardine, said that 97 per cent of the people the students questioned were in favour of the building re-opening as a multi-purpose cinema.
He said: “The campaign follows the response we got from people in the town.”
The Clifton Focus Group has now been formed which will meet on November 19 at TCAT from 5pm to thrash out ways of funding the scheme.
Wellington councillor Miles Hosken has been invited to the focus group meeting and says he is fully behind it.
He said: “It is a golden opportunity and I think it is wonderful and quite exciting.
“I know they have an uphill battle to get funding but they are very active. It would be great for Wellington.”
He called on the town’s business and civic leaders to support the campaign, saying: “It is a new concept and I think the public would show a great interest in this.”
He also called for the scheme to be widened to include premises for local art groups and drama enthusiasts.
Mr Lafferty said: “We started the survey and found that the Clifton was a real buzz- word and people kept saying they really want it to reopen.”
He said they would discuss possible avenues of funding and appealed for local businesses to support the scheme. He said they would also look at English Heritage, the Arts Council, European funding and the lottery as possible avenues of funding.
Wellington town councillor Chris Brittain said: “I am 100 per cent behind it. I know they are building in Telford but Telford gets everything and our town gets left out.
“There is nothing for the youth around here, except pubs and nightclubs and that is where the problems start. A cinema would get a lot of the young ones off the streets.”
A Facebook campaign group was started earlier this month and campaigners are also urging people to attend an Ideas Farm on Saturday, November 10, from 10.30am until 1.30pm in Wellington Civic Centre.
Postcards are being circulated around the town which show the Clifton Cinema up and running as an arts venue with a theatre, cinema, cafe bar and rehearsals.
Paul Sherry, secretary of Wellington Partnership, said: “The ideas farm aims is to gather together ideas and thoughts about how Wellington town centre can be improved for all, residents, businesses and shoppers, and also for new visitors to the town who may not be aware of its attractions.
“The event is completely open and fairly unstructured allowing maximum flexibility and enabling anyone with a ‘pet project’ to expand on their idea and gather support from others with similar interests.
“The aim is to generate a positive feel which concentrates on an exciting future in a town which has flourished since medieval times, has seen recent improvements to its buildings and paving and now has the potential to do much more.”
Comments for: "Curtain up on new bid to open Wellington Clifton"
bill
A good idea but it will take a lot of hard work for the community to raise the funding - but a town the size of Wellington has the capacity but is there support from the Town and Borough Council's to help with support (not financial but through advice/encouragement/planning etc)? But it's worth trying!
Richard Overy
I recently applied to English Heritage to list the Clifton element of the building and although my application was unsuccessful EH did recognise that this building does have local significance.
It's encouraging to see that so many local people are behind the campaign to protect it and with a little imagination it could be a viable business as successful as other smaller attractions such as the Mostyn Gallery in North Wales or the Lighthouse building in Wolverhampton.
http://www.mostyn.org/
http://light-house.co.uk/
Nick
What an exciting and ambitious project!! Telford urgently needs an 'independent' cinema showing different films to the usual nationals. This could draw the community together by providing a focussed project for people to work on. How about the Shropshire Star taking a role in this local issue and offering publicity and a small amount of matched funding to get the ball rolling? A crowdfunding approach could raise a lot of funding and give the project some impetus. The Wellington Town Council and Telford Borough Council both have some responsibility in improving cultural facilities in the area by at least showing some positive support.
Shropsman
A brilliant idea and I hope not just the people of Wellington, but people from across Telford and beyond support it !
No doubt it is ambitious and not cheap, but you won't have to look far for a shining example of how a community led cinema/multi-function building can work ..... I refer of course to the excellent Festival Centre in Market Drayton.
Ruth
Fantastic idea.
I used to work there when it was Dunelm, and i remember going to the cinema just before it closed down.
While working there, we always said 'it was a shame it wasn't a cinema anymore' and we always used to have customers who remembered it being a cinema and remember on how it used to look, and what films they remember seeing, also afew customers remember there first date at the cinema.
Wellington needs something like this, maybe if it does become a cinema again, it maybe a good idea to show the GOOD OLD CLASSIC FILMS and this would be something i would definitely love to see.
Bill
The Star, the various commentators and the College should all be aware that there is already an existing proposal on the table (for months now!) to convert the building not just back into a cinema but into a multi-purpose Arts Centre and Wellington Town Council are already involved.
There is no business case for restoring the building solely as a cinema.
It needs to achieve a utilisation factor of at least 80% to be viable and it can only get to this figure if it is available for theatre, concerts, recitals, the Literary Festival and any other use which seeks a seated audience. That means a wider consultation and proper professional consultant input, which I have volunteered.
Everyone should be aware that if the existing amateur dramatic companies currently based at the Belfrey were prepared to relocate into a new facility, the disposal of that site could in some way help fund the necessary works.
Enthusiasts should also bear in mind that public safety and entertainment leguislation has changed dramatically since the Clifton closed - you can't just put a screen, a projector and some seats in - there have to be new fire exits, proper heating & ventilation, toilets to modern standards, updated sprinkler and alarm systems, disabled access.... Need I go on?
nick
Some very good points here - Yes, it be a big challenge to reopen the Clifton but its got great potential and I understand that lots of the old features are still there. How about a cinema upstairs and a theatre/events/arts space downstairs. A cinema is essential as it brings in regular income and is cost effective in terms of staff etc. It's potentially a great project - how about 1,000 'shareholders' putting in £850 and then you've got a fantastic community facility. I for one would put in£850.
Bill
Nick hits one of the key funding nails straight on the head.
Even organisations like the RSC (with a turnover of millions plus Arts Council support) used sponsorships by both individuals and commercial organisations to fund its new theatre - you get a thank-you in the form of a name somewhere and probably a few other privileges too.
All of this requires organisation, structure, administration and charitable status to be put in place - but, most importantly, for the local authority to back the venture and ensure the site is preserved 'as is' whilst the business plan is prepared. At the moment £1.2m and access to a bulldozer could kill the whole project overnight.
Rob
Just a reminder that the Clifton will certainly be one of the topics up for discussion this Saturday at the Ideas Farm workshop I'll be helping to run at Wellington's town council offices on Larkin Way (by the swimming pool). Come along 10.30-1.30 if you'd like to take part - it'll be an informal session for exploring all sorts of ideas people have for livening up the town. It's being run by volunteers from the town partnership - ie its not just another council consultation event - so do come along and let's see what we can do!
Sarah
Hi everyone, it's Sarah - one of the students from the HND Media group, where we recently set up a open focus group pushing us forward. It's great to see these comments of how many people support this. A few of us will be attending the Ideas Farm meeting on Saturday the 10th, hope to see you all. We are actually holding another focus group on the 19th of November, invitation only, if anyone is interested in coming, can you mail me at sg.perkins77@yahoo.co.uk thank you.