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End of the reel at town flicks
Renovated Cinema To Open In Staveley. Trevor (left) and Anthony Harris.
THERE was no happy ending for an independent picture house that has closed its doors just six months after opening.
Staveley’s Regal Cinema was unveiled in July but failed to attract large audiences – having the lowest attendances in the country for blockbuster Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – before bosses finally decided to pull the plug.
Trevor Harris developed the project with his son Anthony and said the venture had failed due to lack of public interest, claiming no grant support from councils and December’s big freeze compounded the problem.
“The attendances have been absolutely diabolical, atrocious it was,” said Trevor (71), who has run independent cinemas nationwide all his life.
“I know from talking to the film companies nearly every day they weren’t very happy with what we did for Harry Potter, then the snow came in and that virtually put us out of action for another fortnight. Narnia was even worse.
“I simply can’t understand it because we’re in an area within ten miles of a quarter of a million people which should give us between six and seven hundred attendances a week.”
The last film shown at Regal, which showcased a range of independent and chart movies with under-12s priced £4.50 and over-12s at £5.50, was The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Mr Harris said the art deco building on Church Street – last used as a cinema around 1970 – would now be stripped out and the project had cost £50,000.
He added: “It’s very upsetting because I never thought it was going to turn out like this.
“I can’t understand why people should want to go into Chesterfield and pay £7.20 a seat.”
ellen.beardmore @derbyshiretimes.co.uk.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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JanHumar
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 11:29 PMIt's such a shame I used to live near it and it was so good to see the building being used again it should be made a film academy or something Things like that are needed in this area!!
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