Old Cinema Patrick’s St

BBM77 · 12-10-2014 9:48pm #1

Hi all,

Just wondering does anybody know what is happening with the Old Cinema on Patrick’s St. There has been work going on there the last couple of weeks. It would be great to see it put back to some use.

madfcuker · 12-10-2014 11:50pm

BBM77 wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wondering does anybody know what is happening with the Old Cinema on Patrick’s St. There has been work going on there the last couple of weeks. It would be great to see it put back to some use.

Over the last few months I have seen surveyors and engineers come and go. I've wonder what is going in there. It will be great to see the building used again.

MitchKoobski · 12-10-2014 11:53pm

From what I've heard before, whoever owned it saw no point in renovating it because they did not like Waterford as a business setting.

Hopefully it has been sold or leased to someone else since then.

fricatus · 13-10-2014 9:07am

MitchKoobski wrote: »

From what I've heard before, whoever owned it saw no point in renovating it because they did not like Waterford as a business setting.

Hopefully it has been sold or leased to someone else since then.

This is why we should have had a site value tax instead of the property tax in its current guise. People like this should be encouraged to p155 or get off the pot. There is some sort of derelict site tax now, but I don't know anything about the details. Maybe this will encourage movement.

Squidvicious · 13-10-2014 9:21am

It's reopening as a cinema in December. I happened to see a couple of workmen outside it on Friday so I asked them and that's what they said.

burkey85 · 13-10-2014 9:25am

Terrible to see such a location left idle, always thought it would make a great club/venue

The Bowling Alley · 13-10-2014 9:41am

Would be great to see it reopen but I don't think Waterford City is prosperous enough for two cinemas.

BBM77 · 13-10-2014 9:41am

Squidvicious wrote: »

It's reopening as a cinema in December. I happened to see a couple of workmen outside it on Friday so I asked them and that's what they said.

Great thanks. That is what I was hoping. It will help create activity in the area after 5:30.

burkey85 · 13-10-2014 9:42am

Is the one cinema we have even doing enough business?

BBM77 · 13-10-2014 9:46am

The Bowling Alley wrote: »

Would be great to see it reopen but I don't think Waterford City is prosperous enough for two cinemas.

Don’t agree with you on that. Railway Sq is often booked out, I think Waterford has under capacity when it comes to cinemas.

Chip Whitley · 13-10-2014 10:02am

Hopefully it will mean a greater choice of films. I'm assuming that it was licensing issues that meant Odeon didn't get The Skeleton Twins. It was a film I was looking forward to, but it never came in. Another cinema will hopefully mean a bigger range of films!

kryogen · 13-10-2014 10:12am

Not enough business to support two cinemas

reni10 · 13-10-2014 10:27am

Hopefully they could make it into a more arthouse cinema showing a mix of the artier mainstream films and also mix it up with foreign and non mainstream independent movies.

Something like the Lighthouse Cinema only on a smaller scale would be great:
http://www.lighthousecinema.ie/

I think what could work quiet well especially coming into the winter would be some sort of Movie Club subscription so say something like you pay €50 for the month and you can go to any 10 movies etc.

Also some older Themed weeks like Horror movies all over Halloween, specific Director movie weeks, Christmas movies etc.

sillysocks · 13-10-2014 11:18am

Kind of off topic but Garter Lane seem to be showing a few non-mainstream films once or twice a week. Worth a look!

The Bowling Alley · 13-10-2014 12:00pm

It's Omniplex, it aint going to be arthouse.

fricatus · 13-10-2014 12:27pm

The Bowling Alley wrote: »

Would be great to see it reopen but I don't think Waterford City is prosperous enough for two cinemas.

burkey85 wrote: »

Is the one cinema we have even doing enough business?

kryogen wrote: »

Not enough business to support two cinemas

If someone's planning on opening up a new cinema, as appears to be the case, I would say your back-of-a-fag-packet market research is probably wrong lads?

Either the new people reckon there's enough profitable business to share with Odeon, or else they reckon they can drive Odeon out - which is doubtful given their deep pockets.

Of course they may eventually be proved wrong (and me with them), but in the meantime it can only be good news for local cinema-goers, who should see better prices and a wider choice of films if a second cinema does open.

The Bowling Alley · 13-10-2014 12:32pm

fricatus wrote: »

If someone's planning on opening up a new cinema, as appears to be the case, I would say your back-of-a-fag-packet market research is probably wrong lads?

Either the new people reckon there's enough profitable business to share with Odeon, or else they reckon they can drive Odeon out - which is doubtful given their deep pockets.

Of course they may eventually be proved wrong (and me with them), but in the meantime it can only be good news for local cinema-goers, who should see better prices and a wider choice of films if a second cinema does open.

Your smart arse response aside, it's not a massive gamble for them if they already own the building.

reni10 · 13-10-2014 1:51pm

The Bowling Alley wrote: »

It's Omniplex, it aint going to be arthouse.

It will be closed within the year unless it offers the same facilities and much cheaper prices then Odeon...

Real opportunity missed to have an alternative cinema which would have a chance of survival on its own but there you go!

Luckycharms_74 · 13-10-2014 1:59pm

reni10 wrote: »

It will be closed within the year unless it offers the same facilities and much cheaper prices then Odeon...

Real opportunity missed to have an alternative cinema which would have a chance of survival on its own but there you go!

They are gonnna have what's called a OmniplexMAXX giant screen. It looks deadly in fairness

http://tours.360vr.ie/108-2011/

AdMMM · 13-10-2014 2:06pm

reni10 wrote: »

Hopefully they could make it into a more arthouse cinema showing a mix of the artier mainstream films and also mix it up with foreign and non mainstream independent movies.

Something like the Lighthouse Cinema only on a smaller scale would be great:
http://www.lighthousecinema.ie/

I think what could work quiet well especially coming into the winter would be some sort of Movie Club subscription so say something like you pay €50 for the month and you can go to any 10 movies etc.

Also some older Themed weeks like Horror movies all over Halloween, specific Director movie weeks, Christmas movies etc.

The Lighthouse only barely survives up in Dublin!

kryogen · 13-10-2014 4:21pm

fricatus wrote: »

If someone's planning on opening up a new cinema, as appears to be the case, I would say your back-of-a-fag-packet market research is probably wrong lads?

Either the new people reckon there's enough profitable business to share with Odeon, or else they reckon they can drive Odeon out - which is doubtful given their deep pockets.

Of course they may eventually be proved wrong (and me with them), but in the meantime it can only be good news for local cinema-goers, who should see better prices and a wider choice of films if a second cinema does open.

I would wager my back of a fag packet market research will prove to better then your back of a fag packet market research if you like?

Odeon barely gets by. Two cinemas will not work and all the smart arse comments in the world won't change that

kryogen · 13-10-2014 4:23pm

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

They are gonnna have what's called a OmniplexMAXX giant screen. It looks deadly in fairness

http://tours.360vr.ie/108-2011/

Pretty impressive alright

SweetCaliber · 13-10-2014 6:14pm

I don't know,

The old cinema used to be fairly cheap, and when Storm came along they were also fairly cheap.

It was when the old cinema finally closed its doors Storm bumped up their prices and Odeon seemed to adapt to those prices.

If the cinema was to open up again, and could pull off cheaper prices as in the food and drinks, like odeon's prices are disgraceful, a large coke is nearly a fiver.

That and its location, being right in the center of town could be a deal breaker for it. If it was cheaper, heck if it opened up again I find it much easier to get to the old cinema than I do Odeon. Besides, the area in which Odeon is situated has always been fair dodgy.

Be nice to see it open again, that is if they manage to scrub the place to death, I'd say it's in some state.

Shane07 · 13-10-2014 6:24pm

At least its another place open in town which is good to see! It would have made an ideal spot for a big department store though! Still a positive story though!

robtri · 13-10-2014 6:31pm

kryogen wrote: »

I would wager my back of a fag packet market research will prove to better then your back of a fag packet market research if you like?

Odeon barely gets by. Two cinemas will not work and all the smart arse comments in the world won't change that

how do you know what Odeon's profitability is in Waterford?

have you any numbers to back it up?

if you honestly believe that Omni are opening the cinema on a whim I think you would be sadly mistaken, I would be confident that they have done there numbers to be confident it works, I doubt they are throwing a few million into this venture without researching it....

jayboi · 13-10-2014 6:33pm

I always thought the biggest problem between the new and old cinemas besides the ease of parking at the new cinema was the seating, in odeon each row is considerably lower/higher then the other where as in the omniplex it ony had a gradual slope. The magic road up the comraghs seemed to have more of an incline.

If it's reopening I think they need to offer more for less if they are to surrive. Better viewing angles, better seating ie all premium seating and cheaper food and drink.

MitchKoobski · 13-10-2014 6:35pm

If they have a separate desk/till for tickets and a separate one for food/drink, they'll already have a step up on Odeon.

wellboytoo · 13-10-2014 7:25pm

They owe 0 on the building only their fit out costs I think pricing will be the first thing they will challenge Odeon on and it is great for the City Centre to get life back into it.more good news on that front in the next few weeks.

cookie.monster · 13-10-2014 7:41pm

am getting pissed off with odeon they now have reduced the size of there large drinks to the medium size cups cheapskates and this does'nt reflect it in the price, i'd defo support omniplex if it is true that they are reopening

BBM77 · 13-10-2014 7:46pm

Shane07 wrote: »

At least its another place open in town which is good to see! It would have made an ideal spot for a big department store though! Still a positive story though!

I know what you mean but it’s better as a cinema. That part of the city centre badly needs things that are open after 5:30 and help prevent this evening ghost town feel that it has suffered from in recent years. If the OmniplexMAXX comes to pass it will be a huge draw and will really keep life in that area much longer than at present.

sillysocks · 13-10-2014 8:08pm

It'd be nice to have a cinema where you can pick your seats when booking so you don't have to turn up ages before to get a good seat, especially for a popular film.

The one drawback to the old cinema site is the lack of parking right at it I'd say.

Old Cinema Patrick’s St

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