Town’s iconic cinema set to reopen after huge transformation
AFTER years of standing abandoned and dilapidated, Port Talbot’s iconic Plaza building will soon be welcoming locals and visitors back through its doors, following a massive multi-million pound transformation and development project.
The Grade II listed art-deco building, which started life as a cinema back in 1940 and was a popular family-friendly destination for decades until its shock closure in 1999, will be re-launching as a community hub with a wide variety of facilities, events and opportunities for people of all ages.
Whilst the pandemic inevitably slowed down some of the development work at the site – and undoubtedly affected life across the town – bosses have confirmed construction work is ontrack for a phased opening of the Plaza over the next few months.
The repurposed building, which has kept elements of its former art-deco cinema, will have retail units, a community cafe, fitness suite, 240-seat ‘Anthony Hopkins Theatre,’ digital studio, sports studio, business hub and a series of multi-purpose rooms, and is set to host a wide range of events throughout the year.
The Plaza has a very colourful history and has inspired a number of Welsh actors over the years, including Richard Burton, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen.
Based on Talbot Road in Port Talbot town centre, The Plaza was initially designed to replace a smaller cinema, further down the road, which had been destroyed by a fire in 1936.
According to the cinema’s former owner, Alex Jones, who spoke to Wales Online last year, early plans for the Plaza suggested that it would become an Odeon cinema, but the company pulled out due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
But its independent ownership did not hold the Plaza cinema back, and it entertained thousands of people of all ages for almost 60 years.
After closing down in 1999, the Plaza soon became a shell of its former self: damaged, dilapidated and abandoned.
But thanks to a huge investment from Welsh Government, the European Regional Development Fund and Neath Port Talbot Council, the Plaza is rising from its ashes and will soon welcome thousands of people through its doors again.
The Plaza formally opened in April 1940 with a showing of coming-of-age musical film ‘Babes in Arms,’ starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney – but the cinema itself wasn’t quite finished.
Mr Jones said: “The outbreak of the Second World War meant there was an embargo on many decorative materials available. Consequently, much of the building, such as windows, doors, the famous cream tiles and even the sign itself weren’t installed until building restrictions were lifted after 1950.”
The cinema experienced its golden years in the 1940s, as cinema gained popularity, and later in the 1970s when Port Talbot’s Grand, Regent and Odeon cinemas stopped showing films and their regular cinema-goers flocked to the Plaza.
Whilst the Plaza continued to be popular, in the 1980s, the release of Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade helped cement 1989 as the Plaza’s most successful year ever – with more than 5,000 people attending on some days.
Many people who remember the Plaza cinema, or who have heard stories from family members who went there, recall extensive lines of excited cinema-goers queuing up outside the cinema and down Talbot Road, keen to take their seat to watch the latest Hollywood movie.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Plaza underwent a series of refurbishments and continued to draw crowds, but large audiences became “sporadic” as home-video became more and more popular and other cinemas began to crop up in Port Talbot and nearby Bridgend.
On January 4, 1999 the Plaza showed its final film, The Prince of Egypt – and audience members cried when the credits rolled for the last time.
Mr Jones recalled: “Hundreds in the audience sat in silence refusing to leave until the curtains had closed and the lights came on
“As a mark of respect, no exit music was played after the film finished, and the audience were left to troop from the cinema in silence. A true part of Port Tal
bot had died that night.”
For almost 20 years, the building stood untouched – gradually falling into a terrible state of disrepair.
Whilst some of the stunning architecture has stood the test of time, the interior of the Plaza became more and more damaged over the years. Ultimately, the Plaza became a shell of its former self, with memories the only thing that could remind people of the once-beautiful cinema. Until now. In 2019, after a lengthy planning consultation led by the Welsh Government and Neath Port Talbot Council, the New Plaza Project was born, sharing ideas for how the Plaza could be transformed into a “vibrant and inclusive community hub”.
Plans discussed the need for services and facilities that served the Port Talbot community, with the hope that elements of the former Plaza cinema could live on in some way. Millions of pounds of funding was secured from the European Regional Development Fund (£3.4m), Welsh Government (£2.2m) and Neath Port Talbot Council (£1.7m) and work began, demolishing the dilapidated rear of the building in order to rebuild it.
After sharing a detailed proposal for how the Plaza could be run, YMCA Port Talbot was awarded the contract for the building in 2020.
At the time, chair of the YMCA Port Talbot board of trustees, Keith Priddle, said the Plaza would play a major role in creating a new look for the eastern side of Port Talbot.
He said: “It is a major redevelopment of an iconic Port Talbot site and the YMCA is confident it will revitalise the eastern side of the town.”
Councillor Annette Wingrave, Neath Port Talbot council’s cabinet member for regeneration and sustainable development, added: “The Plaza will continue to be a reminder in the centre of Port Talbot of the world famous film stars this town has produced.”
Works are nearing completion now and CEO of YMCA Port Talbot, Andy Brown, has explained what people can expect when the new-old building opens to the public.
He said: “The Plaza was derelict for a number of years, but the council bought it back and secured European funding to develop it, in partnership with the Welsh Government. It’s all part of the regeneration of Port Talbot, we’ve been working with Welsh Government, Wales Co-op and Neath Port Talbot Council to make this really successful.
“There have been delays due to the pandemic and issues with supplies, but we’re looking at a phased opening from December 2021, it was going to be October 2021 originally.
“It’s run by the YMCA but is open to everybody in the community.”
He continued: “On the ground floor, the Plaza will have a local produce store. This will be environmentally friendly, with reduced plastic. There will also be a retail unit for a health and wellbeing business.
“There will be a community cafe area, offering affordable, healthy meals and alternative options to the food you find elsewhere in Station Road.
“The hall, a 302 square metre hall, and changing facilities will be based on the ground floor. And there will be retractable seating so it can transform into a 240-seater theatre – the Anthony Hopkins Theatre – with regular shows.
“We will also have studios. In Studio One, there will be a multi-purpose community space for things like yoga, martial arts.
“In Studio Two, we will have a digital studio for film-making, which will be a combination of people based there full-time and others who are renting the space.”
Andy continued: “On the first floor, there will be the fitness suite with brand new gym equipment, and an incubation hub for businesses.
“We’re hoping this will open towards the end of December or early January, it’s for new and existing businesses that want to base themselves at the Plaza. People can rent a desk or an office to develop their business from the Plaza.
“The incubation hubs will have meeting rooms and offices for rent and break-out spaces, it will be amazing for collaborative projects,” he added.
“What we’re trying to do with the fitness suite is help people improve their health. It’s very collaborative, we’ll be accepting people who have been referred to us from the GP, and helping people become more active.
“On the second floor, we’ll have more offices and the roof will have solar panels, we’re trying to be as green as we can be.”
While the building is no longer a cinema, it will keep its charm, Andy says.
“We’ll keep the cinema seats and the art-deco ticket office as a nod to the past,” he said. “We’re trying to cater for everybody but also stuff that people don’t have here [in Port Talbot]. We’ve got four main focuses: health, culture, business and community.”
The phased opening of the Plaza in Port Talbot is on-track to begin in December 2021, with other facilities opening in the first half of 2022.
Opening times for the venue will vary, but the Plaza will typically be open from 7am to 10pm.