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Warrington's New Theatre...!?!


Dizzy

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Well I'm sat here laughing after reading the front page news.

Unless I've been dreaming people have been saying Warrington needs a Theatre for years.  I've read many comments from campaigners, theatre go'ers, theatre clubs, residents and the likes but never any response from the council or any councillors.  When the proposals to demolish Mr Smiths were made public and the battle to save it started I lost count of how many people suggested a theatre and complained that Warrington didn't have one.

Whoop whoop.... only a couple of months until the elections and here we have it, Clr Celia Jordon's mug shot on the front page news with a big smile saying 'I think Warrington needs a Theatre'.  Does she only ever wake up every 4 years ? :rolleyes:  :lol:

Wonder if her trusted little paint brush will be out again soon for another pretend photo shoot too :lol:

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Celia is standing down this year - so I don't think you can accuse her of electioneering :roll:

No need to give me rolly eyes Gary or are you two best buddies with you just using her first name :roll:  :lol:

 

OK so I didn't know she was standing down but from years of past experiences with her since she's been the Stockton Heath Borough Councillor and also sitting on the SH Parish Council I really have no time for the woman or most of her party cronies either.  All talk, no real action and I'm glad she's going.  I might even put some bunting up and have a celebration party....

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Surely "Celia" has raised this subject now because a new cinema is to be built, offering the opportunity to include a theatre as well.

At one time, there were plenty of cinemas which could be converted for use by theatre groups (usually amateur) and very often they were more full than they were when films were being screened.

I think the councillor's suggestion is a sensible one.

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I'm not saying "Celia's idea" of having a theatre in the new cinema complex is a bad idea Egbert, it's just her timing and with all the talks and press for absolutely ages about the proposed and now agreed Bridge Street/Time Square regeneration she could have quite easily 'suggested' it from day one.
 

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I agree with Diz, Celia Jordon's comments are a joke!

Any campaigning for a theatre should have been done years ago at the planning stage - not just before a local election years down the line!

 

Not so long ago there were comments from Bob Barr, saying the Labour group shouldn't be claiming the credit for the Town Centre Regeneration Project, that  the i's were dotted and the t's were crossed on the contracts while the Lib Dems were in power in the Town Hall.

What an idiot piece of electioneering from him! it merely illustrated how far the Lib Dems would go  - without a public consultation even in sight!

The 'public consultation', for what it was worth, was held only last year under Labour. ( Thumbs down to all political parties for not holding a public consultation years ago to ask what type of regeneration the public would like to see - long before any plans had been drawn up or contractors selected.) 

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So we haven't got a theatre then.

 

parr hall not a theatre?

 

pyramid centre is supposed to have a small theatre isn't it?

 

a cinema that could be used as a theatre but due to pressure to show the latest blockbuster films will probably never get used as theatre after the first production closes.

 

but maybe that's just me being cynical again.

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Yes Sid we have a theatre as in the Parr Hall, but it isn't quite on a par (pardon the pun) with such as those in Liverpool or Manchester. I couldn't see a show such as Evita being effective in the Parr Hall but the type of small plays put on at the Brindley would be ok there.

 

The thing about the news page report that struck me was not really about whether Warrington should have a theatre or not but Celia Jordan's ridiculous comments. She's been a councillor for as long as I can remember, but I can't remember anything useful that she's actually done. 

 

 

Re the town centre cinema.

I can't see that a multi screen cinema in the town centre will be a huge success.

 

As reported in the Daily Mail Jan 6th 2014 "UK Box office suffers biggest fall for 20 yrs"

This isn't a sudden decline either, the industry has been steadily going down the pan for some years. Something the Town Centre Regeneration team seem to have failed to notice.

 

Some observers blame the decline on the lack of blockbuster films whilst others (probably more accurately in my opinion) blame the decline on the fact that people don't want to pay the high prices for what they can watch on their big screens at home.

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Evils your comments and Sha's have just made me wonder.  Thinking about the suggestion of a theatre within the new cinema then surely it wouldn't be very big and only a similar size to the stages in the Parr Hall and Pyramid Centre so really Celia's suggestion is pointless again.

Sha's other comments are true too and do as many people go to, or really want to go to, a cinema these days.  I'd lake to say I do but then again unless the prices are reduced then I probably wouldn't very often.  Most films come out on pay-per-view TV and the likes of Netflix soon after release anyway. 

We used to wait for them to come out on DVD rental from Blockbusters but of course rental shops like that have all closed now... that says something too I suppose.

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Are most theaters not loss making and would need to be subsidized?

 

Can you have a modern cinema with a theater?

 

If we want a duel theater in Warrington then we should be looking at converting MR Smiths back to a cinema\theater

 

Anyone out there can explain how the new redevelopment will regenerate Bridge St?

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Yes, to restore the ABC would obviously be the most sensible solution.  But if that was done what excuse would there be for the building in Bridge St regeneration area? planning permission for a giant pub / club would probably have been refused....but probably what it will end up to be. The last cinema/theatre I remember being proposed, ended up a supermarket and petrol station.

 

I personally don't like the look of the Bridge St Regeneration, I think it's going to destroy rather than regenerate the Town Centre. It looks to be all glass and metal and plonked in one great lump like a big Glass Slug! Creepy!   

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But didn't the ABC Cinema close down because of a lack of film goers ?

 

The Parr Hall will never be a 'theatre' - it struggles to stage things now.

 

I  am reminded of a meeting about the organ in the Parr Hall in 2011, in which Celia Jordan took part.  She admitted that she had never been to a Recital, and was none too pleased when I tried to speak up before she had said her all.

She was more interested in the funding of pot holes in the roads, and made it clear that she had no interest in the future of the organ.

 

Although, she was in the picture when a young local organist was in the news - http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/leisure/interviews/11468214.Former_Sankey_schoolboy_wins_Chetham_s_scholarship/?ref=rss

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Speaking of car parks.... is the market's mulit storey car park being demolished as part of the regeneration project ?  I'd hope not as the intention is to draw more people into town etc but if that does go along with the time square car park then where on earth will people park for the cinema etc etc other than the Golden Square?      

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I  am reminded of a meeting about the organ in the Parr Hall in 2011, in which Celia Jordan took part.  She admitted that she had never been to a Recital, and was none too pleased when I tried to speak up before she had said her all.

She was more interested in the funding of pot holes in the roads, and made it clear that she had no interest in the future of the organ.

No interest  in the future of the organ :shock::evil: :evil:   Surely she must have know it's history and importance.  Saying that she had no interest in saving the locally listed Stockton Heath Primary school either, which despite what the council said it WAS structurally sound, exceptionally well built and nothing at all wrong with it.  Well that's not quite true as she had no interest and wanted it gone, then just before election time she said it shouldn't be knocked down and had her pic taken outside it with Ian Marks, then after elections she (and she) had no interest again and were supporting the demolition once again.

 

Sorry I've gone off on a slight tangent so back to the Theatres etc.....

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Speaking of car parks.... is the market's mulit storey car park being demolished as part of the regeneration project ?  I'd hope not as the intention is to draw more people into town etc but if that does go along with the time square car park then where on earth will people park for the cinema etc etc other than the Golden Square?      

 

 

No, not as far as I recall, it is the market, the boots shop (although not the front bit) and all off the shops, bank, pub, offices that are around there.

 

Have I said I think it is a huge waste of money and will do nothing to regenerate Bridge St, might have mentioned it once.

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I make no excuse for 'going off on a slight tangent'.

 

It would appear that the only interest Celia Jordan had in the Parr Hall organ, was that she wrongly thought that it was to be sold for £1m.

 

From the minutes of a Stockton Heath Parish Council meeting six and half years ago  ..................

 

'A meeting of the Parish Council was held in The Sandy Lane Centre, Sandy Lane, Stockton Heath on Tuesday, 11 November 2008

commencing at 7.30pm.

 

73.2   The following matters to be noted: -

 

  Cllr Jordan reported:

 

iv. Planned £1.2 million refurbishment of the Parr Hall including downstairs bar, sound and lighting, replacement seating and provision fo an upstairs bar and indicated this was to be possibly funded by the sale of the Cavaille-Coll organ for £1m to Sheffield Cathedral.

 

Various comments were made on this sale some against due to heritage and quality of the organ and some for as minimal usage during the year, damage through the present storage environment and other stage users and the large amount of space on the stage it reguires.'

end of quote from the minutes.

 

I must point out that Celia Jordan was mis-infomed that the organ was being sold - it was never going to be sold, but given away to anyone who could afford the cost of removing it and installling it in another place.

 

It was conceded to me last May by a representative of Culture Warrington that the organ is NOT in the way of other events in the Parr Hall.

 

We now know for sure that Sheffield Cathedral no longer want the organ - so we are still blessed with it - some may say stuck with it.

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I can't believe some of the negativity to the Bridge Street development. It would bring people into the town centre after 5pm who probably wouldn't come anywhere near. Even when the shops were occupied, a wander through time square on a saturday evening would have seen it deserted. We have a town of 200 000 people, surely there's a demand there. Places like Widnes and StHelens have similar developments and I think we have more spending power here.

 

We have a whole generation of kids who have probably never been to Westbrook cinema on their own due to its out of town location, their mums and dads preferring to take them to the Trafford Centre or Cheshire Oaks.

 

Re-the Parr Hall. It's useless as a theatre venue. If you are any further back than, what about Museum Street 10 rows, all you see is the back of somones head, plus the seating is very poor.

 

As for parking, what about the area around the museum/Palmyra square, free unlimited after tea. Even Golden Square is only a quid in the evenings, free on Thursdays and Sunday.

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Not sure what development you are on about in Widnes but it certainly isn't in the town centre. Apart from a few pubs and the odd chippy Widnes town centre is dead.

They did try developing the old town centre with a vision of wine bars and continental eating but that turned out to be just a couple of clubs with trouble similar to Bridge street but on a smaller scale. The only other development is around the cinema which no one wanders around because you basically need a car to get to it. Like most visions of family friendly town centres they tend to just turn into the odd boozer, a couple of fast food outlets and late night clubs with bouncers on the door.

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