Film fanatics, grab your popcorn because a new cinema is opening in Norfolk.
Plans to transform the Old Goods Shed, next to Wymondham Railway Station, were first put forward and approved by South Norfolk Council in 2019 with hopes to open the cinema in 2020.
But when Covid struck, work behind the scenes to open the cinema ground to a halt.
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Filmhaus, the Bury St Edmunds-based business behind the plans, is now planning on opening the big-screen experience in Wymondham in the first half of 2024, four years after its initial planned opening date.
The cinema will show the latest commercial releases as well as live opera, music and non-fiction films.
Currently in a dilapidated state, the Victorian Grade II-listed building will house two screens - one with 94 seats and two wheelchairs and the other, on a mezzanine, having 31 seats - with a café/bar with food and drink sourced locally where possible and meeting room for community use and hire.
The cinema is expected to provide employment for about 14 people in both full-time and part-time positions.
The exterior of the building will remain in keeping with its original character.
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The aim is to draw in audiences from Wymondham, surrounding areas and further afield.
Wymondham has a strong cinema tradition. From 1917 silent films were shown in the old Public Hall in Town Green, then known as the Picture Theatre.
It was the town’s sole cinema until the Regal - a single-screen cinema in Friarscroft Lane - opened on March 18, 1937 with a showing of Swing Time starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The Regal was open for more than five decades and closed its doors on June 28, 1993 with a showing of The Bodyguard - with hopes that the Old Goods Shed will revive Wymondham's cinema scene.
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