Crosby Plaza's £14m rebuild is scrapped

Oct 8 2007 by Paula Owens, Liverpool Daily Post

THE 1,460-seater Plaza cinema has just celebrated a decade since being re-opened after its closure in the 1990s.

The cinema and theatre opened on September 2, 1939, with a screening of British drama South Riding.

In August, 1967, the Plaza was acquired by the Classic Cinema chain and the name changed accordingly.

It was acquired by Cannon in 1983 and, again, its name changed.

In 1990, Apollo Leisure moved in and the Cannon became the Apollo. Six years laterApollo decided to close the cinema and sell the site for redevelopment into an office block.

A horrified community collected a 10,000-signature petition and campaigned for the venue to stay open. The Plaza Community Cinema Trust was established and a lease agreed.

The big screen reopened on July 18, 1997 showing Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World to a packed house.

Having raised £325,000, the Plaza Community Cinema Trust bought the building in January 2000.