Cinema could shut as buyout talks continue
HELENSBURGH’S only cinema may have to close temporarily while funding is secured for a community buyout, a public meeting has heard.
But volunteers involved in the buyout have said “we are not going away”, even if the cinema does temporarily shut its doors.
Members of the Save The Tower Community Buyout Steering Group addressed a meeting of community chiefs, including councillors, on their proposals at a meeting.
Brian Keating, who currently owns the facility, insists that no decision has been made and discussions are ongoing.
The meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond community planning group took place on Tuesday, May 7.
Steering group member Donna Hicks told the committee: “At the point where it looked like it would close last year, we got our heads together about whether we could put a case to the owner to allow us to keep The Tower operational.
“We know how much love there is for it in the community, and we could not bear the thought of the place closing and walking out of the door never to reopen again.
“The owner gave us 90 days to prove whether we could run the cinema. Information got out there and generated a lot of interest.
“What was overwhelming was the amount of love and people wanting to see The Tower succeed. Numbers went through the roof and the targets set by the owner were smashed within a month.
“We engaged really positively with other agencies out there to bring more of a community force to the business. We were allowed
to run the cinema but we had no real direction of where we were going with it.”
Ms Hicks continued: “We knew of the Community Hub’s buyout of the Red Cross Hall, and we approached the owner for his thoughts. We were worried it may go down like a lead balloon, but he was very enthusiastic about the idea.
“That was probably around last September. We knew we needed others involved and spoke to others connected with The Tower to form the steering group.
“We were always concerned that timescales meant that The Tower might close, to then reopen. We hoped we could keep going, but it was becoming clearer that the
owner had other ideas.
“We are pretty confident that it is going to close. I cannot say any more right now because a lot has happened in the last 48 hours that will become very apparent.
“But we are not going away, and work will continue, even if it does close.”
Ms Hicks’ steering group colleague, Brian Sayer, added: “When we first got involved with the community buyout, we had to understand whether the community really wanted it, and it appeared that way.
“In February we had the community engagement event, which sold out in no time at all. Two hundred and fifty people came to listen to the proposals going forward,
and we knew people wanted The Tower to succeed.
“We needed to look at some funding to help us, and it has been very well supported. We are now looking to complete stage one of the application for funding from the Scottish Land Fund.
“We are not buying the business, we are buying the building, and it is important to make that distinction.
“We are fully committed to moving forward and we have had very positive feedback on what we are doing from stage one.”
Mr Keating said: “No decision has been made yet. We have more ongoing discussions this week. I don’t want speculation to jeopardise the community activities.”