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Save the Porthmadog cinema
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by YankeeJim | September 24, 2011 at 06:10 am
176 views | 8 Recommendations | 3 comments
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Here is a story about a cinema built in 1931 that is “slated” for destruction unless a newly formed corporation can solicit sufficient funds to rescue it.
One might wonder is it the relatively new architecture that is worth saving.
Well, maybe it isn’t just the architecture, call it sentiment.
The port town Porthmadog is something of a fabrication. In 1811, William Maddocks built “Cob” a seawall to extend the agricultural land in the area. As an environmental catastrophe, perhaps, his levy produced a huge bay with sufficient depth to buoy large transport ships.
Locals in the area quarried slate. Now, they could transport their mined assets to London more easily by ship than overland.
The seaport connection attracted railways as well and it became a commerce hub.
Fast-forward to 1931 and people in these parts needed entertainment. They got their cinema and a facility to house local performances. This part of Wales preserves its language and its history.
“Company tries to save Porthmadog's Coliseum cinema
A new company has been formed to try to save the Coliseum cinema in Porthmadog, Gwynedd.
Friends of the Coliseum is a not-for-profit company which hopes to renovate and maintain the venue.
The cinema, which opened in the 1930s, was forced to close its doors in January amid dwindling audiences.
Members of the group are asking local people to donate and plans to turn the cinema "back into the grand Art Deco masterpiece that it began as".
Donation boxes have been distributed around the town to try and save the cinema, which saw the auditorium empty during some showings.
In 1985, 50,000 £1 shares in the cinema were sold to local people. However, the cash has run out and the building is in need of vital repairs.
It is thought the cinema is in a worse position than in 2007, when £14,000 was raised for necessary refurbishment to prevent it from closure.”
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YankeeJim
Arlington, Virginia, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 06:16 on September 24th, 2011
Mae’r Coliseum eich hangen CHI!
Wedi ei adeiladu yn 1931, mae perygl y bydd sinema y Coliseum yn cau am byth. Yn 1983, daeth pobl ffyddlon a brwdfrydig Porthmadog ynghyd i achub y sinema. Rwan, mae’r amser wedi dod i genhedlaeth newydd wneud yr un fath!
Ymunwch â ni i gadw’r adeilad adnabyddus a phrydferth yn ogystal â’r sefydliad lleol hwn yn fyw.
at 13:29 on September 24th, 2011
I would like to see the lottery fund bail them out.
at 14:50 on September 24th, 2011
I would like to see daily showings of Lawrence of Arabia and the addition of the Sir Lawrence Pub.