Woolton Picture House 'intends to open' later this year

Woolton Picture House "intends to reopen" later this year, according to the British Film Institute (BFI).

The cinema remains closed, despite having received approximately £60,000 in funding to support its reopening. Having first welcomed people through its doors in 1927, Liverpool's oldest cinema announced it was closing for good in July 2020, citing the "devastating and unforeseen circumstances" of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the picture house was rescued with a GoFundMe campaign to support it that raised more than £24,000 in donations from the public during 2020 and 2021. The ECHO reported yesterday (September 7) that the GoFundMe money was not the only financial support that the cinema received during that period.

Woolton Picture House was also awarded £37,809 from the government in order to support it through the pandemic, meaning the cinema was assisted with a total of around £62,000 from external sources.

The government money came from the first and second rounds of the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England, which was distributed in 2020. Administered by the British Film Institute (BFI) on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), the fund's aim was to support "culturally-significant organisations" that were at risk of failure due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

In December 2021, the cinema took to Facebook to announce it was working towards reopening in 2022. The cinema did not offer an exact date that it would reopen, 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."

However, nine months into 2022, the cinema has not yet reopened and there has been very little public communication regarding its future plans. Despite this, the BFI told the ECHO yesterday it has been told Woolton Picture House does still intend to reopen.

A BFI spokesperson said: " Woolton Picture House was awarded funding by the BFI through the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas which closed in March this year. We are aware the cinema is currently closed, however, we received confirmation that the cinema intends to reopen.”

The cinema has stated publicly about its plans to reopen since that Facebook post in December. Since that Facebook post, dated December 15, 2021, there have not been any further updates from the account. 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 ECHO has emailed the address listed on the page multiple times in recent months, but has not received a reply. The phone number listed on the page does not ring.

There is concern among the community in Woolton about whether the cinema will reopen. Woolton and Gateacre's Liberal Democrat Councillor Kris Brown told the ECHO last month that the issue of the cinema fills his inbox, with constituents worried about whether it will reopen. He also said that the fact that the cinema has taken public money "raises the need for further reassurance from the cinema that they intend to reopen soon."

According to the BFI, the cinema intends to reopen and the ECHO understands that the BFI has been assured that Woolton Picture House's owner is committed to reopening the cinema later this year, even if no public declaration of such intent has been made.

Woolton Picture House has been contacted for comment about its opening plans.

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