Robyn McKeown bought her house because it neighboured Woolton Picture House.
Having grown up in Maghull, Robyn lived in New Zealand for some time. On a trip home, she went to a screening at the historic cinema, resuming a tradition she and her family had enjoyed for years.
Leaving the film, she saw a 'for sale' sign outside a nearby property. Her heart was immediately set on buying the house.
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Robin moved in during 2020. For practically all of the time she has lived near the picture house, it has been closed. Now pregnant with her first baby, Robyn is not confident it will ever open again.
She told the ECHO: "I would have loved to have taken my child to that cinema. I've loved it for so long, people really, really love it. I'm not sure it will ever happen now".
The Mason Street cinema, which first opened in 1927, has been closed since the pandemic. A plaque on its front wall says it is "the oldest surviving cinema in Liverpool", but the past three years have called into question the truthfulness of that statement.
The saga of reopening has featured broken promises, false dawns, missed deadlines and lost hope.
Issues began when the cinema announced in 2020 that it was closing for good, due to business lost during lockdowns. However, this decision was reversed after a crowd-funding campaign and taxpayer money provided it with a lifeline.
Around £24,000 was raised by the crowd-funder, while the cinema was awarded £37,809 by the government's culture recovery fund during the pandemic, which was administered by the British Film Institute (BFI). The cinema said it collected £25,625 of the awarded funds.
Supported by nearly £50,000 in funding, the cinema posted on Facebook in December 2021 to announce its plan to reopen in 2022, but this did not materialise. 10 months of silence followed before a September 2022 statement from the owners said they remained committed to reopening.
On October 4 2022, the picture house then announced it would not open in 2022 but shared a two-phase plan for reopening, with an initial target of spring 2023 - subject to the "stability" of the financial climate. This update included a promise of monthly updates on Facebook about the reopening process.
There have been no updates in the nearly six months since. The cinema has not replied to the ECHO's many requests for comment, while local councillor Kris Brown has dismissed the reopening plans as "hot air" due to the ongoing silence.
When the ECHO visited the cinema on Friday (February 24), there was no answer at the door. The redecoration was unfinished, litter was strewn across the crumbling front steps, while faded posters for Peter Rabbit 2 - a family film initially due for release in March 2020 - remain next to the front doors.
The prospect of the cinema never returning is a worrying one for those who live nearby. Robyn added: "If it goes, the heart of the village will be gone. It's so sad."
Robyn told the ECHO she last saw movement at the cinema in August, when the unfinished painting job was undertaken and carpets were ripped out. However, she believes these tasks were only done to give off the impression that the owners were working towards reopening and nothing has been done since.
She added she can see a window on the cinema's roof from her home. She said the window has been open since March 2020.
"When I go to the gym in Woolton Village, it's the only thing people ask me about", she added. "Everyone cares about it. We don't want to see it become flats, we want the cinema.
"People want to live in this area because there are lots of things to do and the cinema was a big part of that. I love film and the cinema is the only reason I live here, I would imagine there's a market for it."
Another neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, feels the same way. Like Robyn, she was drawn to living in the area by the cinema.
The neighbour bought their home 30 years ago, attracted by the cinema's classic red colours and distinctive design. Now, she is saddened to see the state it has fallen into. She walks around the cinema, pointing to cracked front steps, damaged side doors, faults with the roof and brickwork that has seen much better days.
Both Robyn and her neighbour told the ECHO that the front steps have become a hotspot for teenagers with nothing to do, looking for a space to smoke and drink. They said litter, particularly laughing gas canisters, is often left there.
Everyone in Woolton wants to see the cinema restored to its former glory and showing films again, not least because so many contributed to the crowd-funder.
The neighbour added: "People raised so much money for the cinema, it's unfair". Cllr Brown has told the ECHO he believes the raising of public money increases the need for transparency from the owners, but his calls have gone unanswered.
The ongoing closure is noticed by other businesses in Woolton Village. At Coast, a coffee shop on Allerton Road in the heart of the village, owner Ian Jepson told the ECHO he can't understand why nothing has happened with the cinema.
Ian said: "From my personal point of view, it feels such a shame. For a short period, we opened in the evenings in the run up to Christmas. We'd have groups of people coming here for something to eat before they went to the cinema.
He added: "I think people are more inclined to support independents these days - a bit more conscious of where they're spending their money. I think if the cinema opened, people would think 'well, I'm not going to Odeon, I'll go here, keep it local.
"As it is now, it's just a complete waste. I'm against it being turned into flats but you want to see something going on, that's better than it just sitting there and nobody knowing what's happening.
"I can't understand why you would just sit on it. Why wouldn't you do something or sell it?"
Earlier this month, Cllr Brown made a further plea for transparency from the cinema, but shared his fears that it would not open again.
He told the ECHO: "It’s pretty clear from the lack of communication that any plans to refurbish and reopen were hot air.
“A shame really. With multiplexes feeling the strain from streaming services like Netflix and Disney, we’re almost returning to the age of the single screen picture houses - where a film is more of an event. It seems Woolton won’t be there.
“If you’re not going to reopen, the very least that can happen is an apology to all those that gave money to a community fundraiser and to tax payers that forked out thousands through BFI recovery grants.
“I’m sure you can sense my frustration after trying so hard to make contact. My door is still open to get in touch, but I won’t hold my breath.”
Woolton Picture House was approached for comment.
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