Thank you to everybody who is still adding their comments and thoughts.  This one from Kevin Moore really got me thinking:

It IS possible to make old cinemas commercially successful - look at the website for the Rex cinema in Berkhamsted - a real gem. As well as a full house daily and a wide range of programmes to suit all tastes (particularly the elderly and the the young) there is a flourishing restaurant business (the gatsby)which shares the site. This formula is exactly what M-H needs using the Ritz - restored to its former glory on a prime site next to the bus station - not a new small screen cinema tucked away elsewhere in town.

The site for the Rex is www.therexcinema.com and it certainly is a lovely restoration.  

Kevin Moore

I agree with Kevin that the town is certainly big enough to support such a cinema and the Rex he talks about is a lovely old building.  Although time is pressing it might not be too late for the site.

ITV interview with LucyITV news

On Sunday ITV ran an extensive news report across all Cental Regions (East & West Midlands).  The news reported on how Lucy & the campaign have halted the demolition of the cinema and the progress of the campaign.

 It will be available to view on this site soon. Thanks to the Central News team for such a great report. which can be viewed by vsisting:

http://www.itvlocal.com/central/news/ and click on Sunday February 3rd News for the East Central region.  

BBC East Midlands today also covered the story on Wednesday Fbruary 6th on their TV bews broadcasts.

12 year old girl halts cinema demolition  

Lucy Seaward, an 12 year old girl from Market Harborough, Leicestershire has stopped a London based property developer form demolishing a disused pre-war cinema.  In August 2007 the girl along with her school friends started a campaign to stop the building from being demolished and retirement flats being built in its place. The petition which she started when she was 11 years old ended up being signed by over 8,000 residents culminated in former residents of the town contacting the campaign for New Zealand, Australia &
America with their support and memories of the towns’ cinema.   

“Market Harborough is not big enough to support a large multiplex, but it is big enough to support a smaller cinema so it seemed wrong to demolish the cinema we have and replace it with flats” comments Lucy.  The campaign which resulted also generated enquires from three cinema operators.  One of the cinema groups called ‘The Light’ proposed a multi-million pound 5 screen digital cinema complex on the site.  

Property company Alislane who are the current owners of the site however still pushed ahead with their plans for flats which were thrown out by a region-wide design committee as well as the local council planning meeting on Tuesday (January 29^th) after somebody spoke on Lucy’s behalf.  

“We really hope that this will make the owners think again about what they are going to do with the site. The plans for the new cinema look great and I would love to have a cinema in Market Harborough again” adds Lucy.

 The great news is that after advertising the site as a leisure investment at least 2 cinema companies have put a bid in for the former Ritz Building on Northampton Road. Even better, the news is that one of them put in a fair and realistic bid. That is, the full market rate for the land. This is the first time in 3 decades that the town has been able to claim that a serious cinema group has actually bid at full price for the land and has made a commitment backed by cash. The company has drawn up full plans for a 6 seater digital cinema.

But as always, things are not so simple. The current owners are still pursing their plans to build retirement flats on the land. Because this is the most profitable type on development, they still hope to make more money out of this than by selling to the cinema group. Now as they don’t live in the town, you can hardly blame them for this. However if you do live in the town you may have different views.

If you think that the land would be better used by the cinema group that is proposing a mixed use on the site that includes retail, housing and a cinema then this is the time to say something. The alternative is that the building will be demolished and used for retirement flats and retail.

You may feel that the town would benefit from a cinema on the site. Personally I have not spoken to a single person in the town who would prefer flats to a cinema but unless the council receive objections, this is exactly what will happen.

There is a very short time in which to object, but just a few paragraphs raising your objection to the scheme is all it takes.

Quote reference: 07/01751/FUL & 07/01749/CON and write to:

Planning Department

Harborough District Council

Adam & Eve Street

LE16 7AG

If people make it clear that they do not like the plans to use this former cinema site for flats, but would like the use of the land returned to being a cinema then it will become unlikely that the current plan will go ahead. Without objections however, the scheme looks likely to succeed.

As a campaign we have done everything that we can. We’ve persuaded the owners to put the site up for sale, we found a cinema chain who wants to buy and put up a fair price for the land. Now it’s out of our hands. Let the council know directly what you would like on the land and what you think of the proposed scheme.

News Release from December 11th at 2pm

Harborough Cinema campaigners were delighted to hear that at least two cinema chains have made a bid for the former Kwik-Save /Ritz Cinema site on Northampton Road.  The derelict building was scheduled for demolition and earmarked for flats before the campaign began in September 2007. The site’s current owners advertised the building for sale as a ‘leisure opportunity’ towards the end of October.  Members of the campaign have been speaking to cinema groups and property developers in order to bring a cinema back to the town centre. When the deadline passed for submissions on Friday, it emerged that at least two cinema groups had put a bid in for the site.

The more ambitious of the two was ‘The Light’ cinema group who are planning the launch of up to ten state of the art digital cinemas around the UK. Their bid was ‘above guide price’ submission for the land, with their plans including a 5 screen cinema on the site as well as retail space, restaurants and housing.

MD for the The Light Group, John Sullivan says “I am very excited about bringing cinema back to Market Harborough – the town would be a prime site for such a facility.”  Current owners Alislane are expected to review all submissions shortly and to announce the winning bid before Christmas.

“It’s been 30 years since Harborough had a commercial cinema.  Now a temporary cinema is opening near the Leisure Centre shortly, and there is a real chance that a permanent cinema will return to the town by 2009. It would be a tremendous Christmas present for the town if The Light’s bid is accepted by Alislane,” says Alastair Campbell, spokesperson for the campaign.

When the deadline closed on Friday 7th December at 5pm the good news is that at least 2 cinema companies have put in a serious bid to buy the land on Northampton Road with a view to turn in back into a cinema.

The sites current owners advetised the site as a leisure oppertunity in a national campaign as a result of the Harborough Cinema campaign.  At least 2 cinema chains put in a bid. One bid by ‘The Light’ has put in an ambitious scheme involving retail, housing and a 5 screen digital cinema complex.  MD of The Light John Sullivan said “We are very excited about our proposal and we are very much looking forward to bringing cinema back to Market Habrorough’s town centre.

The bids have been put forward to the sites curent owners and a decision is expected as soon as this Wednesday (December 12th).

The news of the bids was greeted with delight at the Cinema Task Force meeting held at the council’s offices on monday evening.  The ambitious plans were passed around the meeting and were judged at this early stage to be both practical and exciting.  They would be a real boost to the town centre was the general opinion.

The scheme now has 2 stages to go.  The current owners will have to accept the bid and the council will have to approve the plans.  The first area will be decided this week.  Assuming that the bid is accepted, the second will take a while longer, but the first impression of the planning officer present at the meeting was the plans seemed well thought out and fell within the guidlines for the town.  

Other developers may have bid on the site so the town awits until Wednesday to hear whether we will have a cinema once more.

It now looks very likely that the former Ritz Cinema in Northampton Road is going to be demolished unless a bid comes through by this Friday.  Despite 8,000 signatures and the overwhelming support of the town and villages, the campaign to have a cinema in Harborough looks like it may come to nothing. Despite research that proves a cinema is viable in the town, despite countless other success stories of cinemas thriving in town centreres it looks as though we are going to be treated to more flats in this prime town centre site. What a wasted opportunity and what a shame for the town.  There was, for a while, there was a real chance that Harborough was going have a picture house and leisure amenity.  It would be somewhere at the very heart of the town for teenagers, families and indeed everybody to visit.  It would bring people into the town and be good for the economy of the High Street, but now unless something happens in the next few days it looks as though this possibility is gone for good. 

The good news is that all is not lost.  Because of the campaign started by Lucy and Mollie a new cinema will be coming to the town by the end of the year – something would never have happened without the campaign.  In just a few weeks we will be a 120 seat cinema located conveniently by the leisure centre.  This ‘temporary’ cinema could remain open for years to come - as long as the town uses it.  Perhaps it will remain open until a permanently housed commercial cinema is open again in Harborough.   

Indeed if our new temporary cinema is well supported perhaps it will lead to a cinema operator realising that 60,000 plus people is more than enough of a base to support a thriving cinema. By then it may be too late to save this site as it falls into the hands of people who don’t care about the town, but that decision is now out of the hands of the people and in the hands of property developers and planners.   

Let’s hope that sombody comes forward before this Friday with the imagination and the vision that the town needs.

What the Ritz Cinema in Nothampton Road will look like unless somthing is done  

 The current owners of the former Ritz Cinema in Nothampton Road have applied again for planning permission to demolish the cinema and replace it with flats and retail space.

There have been a number of parties interested in buying the site, but nobody has put in a formal bid.  If you are interested in making a bid for the cinema you have until December the 7th at the latest to contact the sites vendors and claim a bid pack.

If you know of anybody who is interested in saving this building and running a successful cinema (and it has been proven that a 4 screen cinema is viable in the town if the site was used as a mixture or resteraunts, leisure and cinema) then please ask them to contact:

Emma from Intali on 01858 469 123 or e-mail info@intali.com or visit www.intali .com to recive a bid pack.

This will not affect the tempory cinema that will be opening in the town next month, but the overall aim of the campaign is to have a full time perminat cinema at the heart of the town.  If you know of sombody who has the money and vision to breath life into this old building again, and make themselves plenty of money in the longer term then this is the time to contact them.

Otherwise we will have yet more flats and retail units in a town that is crying out for more leisure facilities - such as a cinema.

As you may have read in this weeks Harborough Mail, we are looking for a name or a nickname for the new cinema.  The winning entry will win 10 tickest to use as you wish plus a special invitation to the previw VIP event when the cinema open just before Christmas.

Send your entries to the Harborugh Mail or e-mail cinema@idealmarketingcompany.com

The winner will be announced before the end November.

We are also looking for staff who once worked at the old Ritz cinema in the town.  If you worked there or know of sombody who worked there, please get in touch.  Just e-mail cinema@idealmarketingcompany.com along with your phone number. �

You may have heard or read that Harborough is now getting a 120 cinema. It looks likely that this will happen before Christmas but there are many things that we have still to confirm such as - where will tickets be on sale from, what date will it open, what will be the first films shown and what will the name of the cinema be?

For example will Startdust be playing at the cinema?

The answer to all of these questions will be available here on the blog where we will update you on anything and everything to do with the cinema.

What’s more, you will be able to see full details including times of screenings once they become available. www.harboroughcinem.com will be the site to get all the news on what’s happening at the cinema - so keep coming back here to get the latest on what’s happening.