20 November (Part 1) - The cinema refurbishment that didn’t happen
This
month’s Full Council meeting revealed that
Bexley Council lost at least £117,000 on
keeping the StoryTeller cinema afloat after its owner went bust, partly in subsidies and partly in lost rental income. Then in July
Bexley Council said
the cinema would “be closed for a short while for refitting” and be reopened in September. The image alongside is from that announcement. The StoryTeller is
still shut.
The reason for the delay is said to be that a new operator had to be found but the claimed
refurbishment would appear to be the sort of misinformation for which Bexley
Council is famed. A letter from the Council to @tonyofsidcup dated yesterday
states that the new operator will take over soon and it is they who will then refurbish
the cinema. What that entails is unknown but in July the Council said new equipment would be fitted.
@tony’s letter reveals that Bexley Council bought the old cinema equipment and
seats from the liquidator for £105,000 and since they would have no need of it
except to run a cinema it seems fair to assume that it will stay where it is. In the StoryTeller.
What then is being refurbished? Not a lot presumably and on the face of it, it
would appear that Bexley Council is telling massive porkies again to cover their
incompetence and waste of taxpayers’ money.
£105,000 is not a lot for three screens. Three projectors obviously but you
cannot show a modern film as it is intended without a dozen amplifiers and
loudspeakers. They do not come cheap and £35,000 per screen is cheap.
I am beginning to understand why it was that on
my one and only visit I found
the experience disappointing. My home loudspeakers are a lot better than theirs.
Index to StoryTeller blogs.