Crosby Plaza's £14m rebuild is scrapped

Oct 8 2007 by Paula Owens, Liverpool Daily Post

AN AMBITIOUS £14m plan to demolish and rebuild one of Merseyside’s last remaining independent cinemas has been scrapped.

Trustees at the Plaza, in Waterloo, are going back to the drawing board after a consultation found cinema-goers would prefer to see the original art deco venue refurbished.

Over £5m of public funding had been secured from the North West Development Agency to create a single-site complex with room for a multi-screen cinema.

Both the cinema and Crosby Civic Hall, on the opposite side of Crosby Road North, were to be knocked down, and rebuilt on the civic hall site.

The designs included a multi-screen cinema, a larger library and new civic hall.

The 1930s cinema, which has distinctive art deco arches in the brickwork, would have been replaced by an apartment block.

But now the cinema’s managers have decided to focus on redeveloping the existing building, making the most of its “iconic” architectural features.

Plaza chief executive Francis Cassidy could not confirm whether a major redevelopment of the civic hall and library would still go ahead.

He said all parties involved in the project, including Sefton Council, the North West Development Agency and community leaders, were aware of the cinema’s change of plan.

Mr Cassidy said: “As a result of a review of strategic options by the cinema’s trustees, we have agreed with the interested parties it is not in the best interests of the Plaza to move across to the project. The biggest reason is the emotional attachment of the community to the premises. We believe the community would prefer us to do something with the Plaza on its existing site.”

A spokesperson for the NWDA said plans for the Plaza Project were being revised but confirm-ed the £5m government funding was still available to the cinema.

An unnamed private develop-er had been set to foot the rest of the bill for the original plan and it is unknown whether they would remain involved.

A spokesman for Sefton Council said the change of plan meant the new library and civic hall plans had fallen through for the time being.

Mr Cassidy said: “We are expecting the results of a con-sultation by the end of the year. We will then be in a position to make an announcement about the way ahead.”