Tyneside Cinema to receive a £1.3m makeover

The Tyneside Cinema is to undergo a £1.3m expansion which will bring a touch of South London cinema to the North East.

The cinema has made plans to take over the empty shop on the ground floor of its Grade II listed building and transform the former Barclays Bank unit on Pilgrim Street into a cinema-lovers’ café bar with its own cabaret-style ‘secret cinema’, inspired by the award-winning pub and cinema venue ‘Roxy Bar & Screen’ in Brixton.

The Roxy has become an incredibly popular venue, renowned for bringing together cutting-edge digital screenings with high quality drinks and food in a stylish setting.

“That, essentially, is what we want to create here.” Explained Tyneside Cinema’s chief executive, Mark Dobson. Part of the premises, he explained, would become “a little cabaret cinema space where you can sit at a table, have a drink and watch a movie”.

The expansion and renovation will offer audiences the opportunity to see a more diverse array of films from around the world and will show a range of material including, possibly, the new wave of live-streamed theatre and opera productions.

The subsidised Tyneside has proved extremely popular since reopening after its last major refurbishment in 2008 and the bank building, vacated in 2011, offers an excellent opportunity for growth which is expected to create new revenue streams. The former Barclays premises is owned by wealthy developers the Reuben Brothers whose representatives agreed the Tyneside Cinema could have them on a lease until 2045, matching the Tyneside’s own.

It also means that the Tyneside, which has its entrance on High Friar Lane, would be given a front door onto Newcastle’s busy Pilgrim Street for the very first time, opening itself up to more potential customers.

The independently run Tyneside Coffee Rooms will be unaffected by the planned changes but the third floor Tyneside Bar will be transformed into a new 40-seat viewing area, which  will operate as a free video art gallery during the day and a cinema by night. The extra screening facilities will also enable popular films to be retained for longer.

The new bar and restaurant will also result in the creation of 20 new jobs in the city and will help to support the cinema at a time when funding for the arts and charities is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Mr Dobson said the Heritage Lottery Fund has enabled a feasibility study to take place and the Arts Council England has awarded the project its maximum capital grant of £499,000. Newcastle City Council has also loaned the cinema £500,000 in support of the project.

A fundraising appeal has been launched by the cinema to raise the final £100,000 required to begin the redevelopment, and Mr Dobson is confident this target can be reached: “Similar to last time, we have all sorts of ideas about how people can donate,” he said.

Providing sufficient funds have been raised, work is expected to start in January with an opening date expected late next summer.