THE owners of Frome’s Westway Cinema, which closed in March, are moving forward with plans to reopen the town’s silver screen, Frome Times was told last week.
The decades-old independent cinema went into liquidation earlier this year, but landlords, Maybrook Properties, says it is making progress on its reopening.
Maybrook Properties’ Martin Stenson told Frome Times, “We’re at the early stages of working with a company we believe will be a very good investor for the cinema. The building and business will require a lot of investment and there will be checks and renovations that need to go ahead before anything can happen; we’re definitely moving forward, but it’s hard to say how long it will take.
“We’ve had quite a lot of interest in the property and we’re committed to keeping it as a cinema and providing a welcoming facility for the people of Frome.”
Maybrook Properties could not give any details about the potential investor, or an idea of how long it will take to reopen the cinema but they are optimistic a cinema will continue in Frome.
Mayor of Frome, councillor Kate Bielby, welcomed the news and said, “Obviously this is a commercial decision, but I think we’d all love to see the Westway continue as a cinema. It’s been a well-loved part of Frome life for generations and I think everyone in town would be pleased to see it given a new lease of life.”
When the news broke that the cinema had closed, a petition to save it was started by Frome resident and town councillor Pippa Goldfinger. To date, the petition has collected over 2,100 signatures and many people left messages in support of the Westway.
When the petition started cllr Goldfinger said, “Like many other people in Frome I was really sad to hear about the closure of the Westway; there is real affection for the cinema and the response to the petition has been overwhelmingly positive.”
The cinema was closed on 25th March by former owners Martina O’Connor and Mark Lifely. The couple took over the family business five years ago from Martina’s parents, Dennis and Dolores, who had run the cinema for over 20 years.
