Woolton Picture House first opened its doors in 1927, but few people have made it through them in recent months.
After 93 years of business - only interrupted by a fire in 1958 and the death of owner David Wood in 2006 - the cinema announced that it was closing for good in July 2020. Staff said the decision had been made due to the "devastating and unforeseen circumstances" of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Liverpool's oldest cinema was offered a lifeline when members of the public raised over £24,000 to support it. Under a new owner, the cinema took to Facebook in December 2021 to announce it was working towards reopening in 2022.
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The post stated the money raised had: "helped to maintain the building and its continuing overheads whilst the cinema has been closed. This includes finance, certification, insurances, and general upkeep and maintenance to retain this historic building; all of which are areas which many businesses have struggled with during the pandemic".
The cinema did not offer an exact date for when its projector would start rolling again, but the Facebook post stated: "it is our full intention that we will be re-opening our big, red doors during 2022". The post continued: "We look forward to when we will meet again and will be very excited to welcome you all back to Woolton Picture House in 2022 so that you may enjoy the big screen experience in your beloved cinema once again."
Since that Facebook post, dated December 15, 2021, it has been all quiet on the Woolton front. There have not been any posts from the account since and any attempts to send a message to it are met with an automated reply, which reads: "Thank you for messaging Woolton Picture House. At present our Facebook Inbox is not monitored".
The reply offers an email address to contact instead. The ECHO has done so multiple times in recent months - to no avail.
Woolton and Gateacre's Liberal Democrat Councillor Kris Brown told the ECHO he has also made numerous attempts to contact the historic cinema's new owners since they announced plans to reopen. However, he has not yet heard back either.
Cllr Brown told the ECHO : "I’ve written about five public letters in the last year or so - since they closed during the pandemic. I’ve reached out - I want to help.
"The question of what’s happening with the Woolton Picture House fills up my inbox more than most of what goes on at the council. It’s clearly of interest to people and I want to know that something is happening, but it is down to the owners.
" The only thing that I’m aware of is that if you go past the cinema, you can see that they’ve painted the doors. It’s significant that something’s happened, so something is going on or it’s giving the impression that something is going on. But there has been no statement since December, there’s been no reply to us."
Recent news of financial troubles at Cineworld increases the importance of transparency regarding Woolton Picture House's future, according to Cllr Brown. Cineworld - which has cinemas in Runcorn, Speke, Warrington and Broughton, as well as owning the Picturehouse chain, which operates the cinema at FACT in Liverpool city centre - is preparing to file for bankruptcy "within weeks".
The business was saddled with $4.8bn (£4bn) debt at the end of the last financial year. The news of its financial problems comes as cinemas have had to grapple with the rise of streaming in recent times.
However, Cllr Brown believes his ward's independent cinema offers a unique cinematic experience and should be protected as a result. He said: "There must be a market out there for what they can do - the interest that they’ve had in it shows that. You can turn events like that into something much more than the cinema.
"There’s lots of support available to the owner. Organisations like the BFI (British Film Institute) have grants available for independent cinemas.
"These are rare gems, there aren’t too many of them around the country and there are enough film buffs and people interested in cinema who would very much not want to see a cinema and building like that go down the drain."
A Facebook post from August 2020 stated the cinema was investigating grants from the BFI and alternative sources. However, the GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for Woolton Picture House had begun by then.
Though the cinema stated that money raised through public donations was being used to maintain the building and cover overheads, Cllr Brown believes the fact it has taken money from donations means it has a responsibility to keep people informed. He said: " Since there was an effort made by certain people to raise funds for it, I think that they have a social responsibility to tell people and show them that something is happening with the site, because I've had one person tell me that they put £1,000 into the campaign."
In a plea to the current owners, he added: "P lease explain what you’re doing and also reach out. We can all get around the table and work out what’s best. We can turn it into something that would be really beneficial for the owner and for the community as well."
The ECHO contacted Woolton Picture House for comment.
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