Aberdeen’s Belmont Filmhouse – which was the Scottish city’s only independent cinema until its closure last year – is on track to re-open as a cinema.
It has been shut since the parent charity that operated the cinema, the Centre for the Moving Image (CM), went into administration in October.
Aberdeen City Council owns the building. In May, a public interest notice was published inviting prospective operators to submit proposals for operation of the Belmont Cinema, and to test the viability of the venue’s potential within the sector. Seven notes of interest were registered, including from the Save the Belmont Cinema campaign.
Two prospective cinema operators are now understood to be in the running.
A spokesperson for Aberdeen City Council said: “The two parties are being invited to meet officers, to gather more information on their proposals to assess their suitability. Depending on the outcome of these meetings, officers may look to put forward a report this autumn to set out recommendations for the venue to be reopened under a new operator.”
The CMI also ran the Edinburgh Filmhouse and the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF). The Edinburgh Filmhouse building has been sold to property management group Caledonian Heritable, with a team of former Edinburgh Filmhouse staff planning to run the 88 Lothian Road venue.
The Belmont Filmhouse building differs, as it is a council-owned facility, which was operating under a 10-year agreement and lease to the CMI.
Since 1898 the 49 Belmont Street building has been used, off and on, as a cinema. The first film shown at the venue featured footage of Queen Victoria at Balmoral. From 2000, it operated under lease from Picturehouse Cinemas, as the Belmont Picturehouse. After the purchase of Picturehouse Cinemas by Cineworld in 2013, the company had to forgo The Belmont Picturehouse owing to Competition Commission rules, with the CMI taking over the lease in 2014.
No comments yet