Knowsley pushes on with cinema rebirth plan

The council is looking to enter into a six-month exclusivity agreement with The Cinema Group, allowing the operator to explore taking on the Prescot Picture Palace.

In September last year, specialist conservation architect Purcell was appointed to advise on an initial phase of repairs at the 1912-built cinema, which is now grade-two listed.

With close to £1m allocated, the redevelopment is the largest part of the £3.1m high street heritage action zone funding secured by Knowsley for Prescot, which is being delivered with Historic England.

The clock is ticking on the funding stream, with a project start likely to be required in 2022.

Knowsley bought the site from Oasis Community Church in 2020.

Should Knowsley’s cabinet sign off at its 23 March meeting on the exclusivity agreement, the council and TCG will undertake detailed investigations and business planning, with the desired outcome being a lease of the cinema to the operator.

TCG would then look to open a three-screen cinema and leisure space at the Kemble Street site, meaning the restoration of the original 1912 auditorium and the building of an extension for the new screens.

A restored cinema would play into Knowsley’s wish to make Prescot a cultural and leisure destination, a drive spearheaded by the £27m Shakespeare North theatre project, a venue that is expected to open this year.

In the immediate Kemble Street area, the local authority is in negotiations with key landholder Brookhouse as it looks to bring about a comprehensive area-wide redevelopment plan.

According to a report prepared for Knowsley’s cabinet, independent consultant The Big Picture recommended that larger operators would be less likely to be swayed by a small operation in the confines of a listed building, and that independents, or even start-ups, would be the best way forward.

The site was marketed last spring with five expressions of interest being submitted, with the other four being local enthusiast group The Cinema Collective, Manero Group, Webster & Dodd and property developer Voya UK, which dropped out before written submissions were collected. W&D failed to make the interview stage in August.

The Cinema Group won the day because it “proposed the most financially viable option, with a concept plans for reuse and restoration of the existing auditorium” and an extension, also winning praise for its ideas being “the least invasive”.

The venture is described as a collective of individuals who have joined together for this opportunity, being formed of people with “worldwide expertise and experience in operations, fit=-out, project management, marketing, design and architecture” in the field of cinemas and leisure destinations – the group also has experience in working with local authorities.