Retailplanfor formercinemaon QuinsboroRoad €800,000houses burnedtotheground

January 2008 January 2008

BRAY’S cinema-going days appear to be well and truly over after an application to convert part of the Cineplex complex into a retail unit.

The building has been lying idle since June of last year after a lack of parking in the town and competing large cinemas were blamed for a sharp decline in trade.

Owner Michael Collins blamed the loss of the car park on Florence Road and the continued delay in constructing the Florentine Centre for a significant loss of earnings.

He took the decision to close the facility, leaving the town without a cinema for just the second time since St Stephen’s Day, 1935. It had closed briefly from 1973 to 1974 when Mr Collins bought it from the Rank Organisation.

TWO houses in an exclusive new housing development were burned to the ground late on Friday night.

The two semi-detached houses, built by developer Philip Shannon at Greenhill Road, were completely destroyed by the blaze, despite valiant efforts by local fire services to curtail it. The timber framed houses, on the market for €800,000, were recently completed by the developer, and were in the process of being decorated.

Neither home was occupied at the time. Wicklow gardaí have examined the scene and a full investigation has been launched into the suspicious circumstances surrounding the blaze.

The fire service were called by neighbours shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday night, and tried to curtail the fire. However, it had firmly taken hold and they could not save the buildings.

The houses have been demolished by the developer as the fire has rendered them structurally unsound.

Gardaí have not, as yet, been able to confirm if the fire was started maliciously, but investigations are ongoing.