An iconic local cinema that was threatened with closure just months ago will reopen today with bargain tickets, a new-look foyer and new comfy seating.
The future of Haverfordwest’s Palace Cinema, located at the top of Market Street, hung in the balance last year as its owners retired and a search for new tenants began.
This spring independent cinema operator Sinema Palace Ltd signed a lease with Pembrokeshire County Council to take over the venue which first opened its doors a century ago.
The Palace will reopen today, Friday, April 28, in time for some bank holiday weekend movie magic.
It will be showing Super Mario Bros at 5pm and the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry in the other screen at 5.15.
Guardians of the Galaxy will be showing from next Wednesday.
The new team at the cinema has been working hard to revamp the interior of the iconic building.
“We have completely renovated the foyer to make it a much more welcoming space,” said new manager Hannah Cramp “We’ve repainted it and it is looking really smart.
“We have also replaced most of the seats in Screen 2 with bigger, comfier seats with more leg room.”
The team has also recarpeted all of Screen 2 and the foyer and will look to revamp Screen 1 and other public areas, such as the loos, as soon as possible.
For the cinema’s opening event all tickets will be £5. After this the venue aims to keep trips to the cinema affordable, with ticket prices remaining below £7.
“We want to keep it so that people can afford to come and to make it a day out for all the family.”
Hannah said the team was ‘very excited’ to be reopening today.
“It is an important building in the town,” she said. “We’ve got the chance to reopen it again and are excited for people to come.
“We would love to see as many people as possible. We need people to come and make the most of it.
“It’s looking great, people will be pleasantly surprised.”
Hannah said that as well as affordable tickets, the aim is to keep that cinema classic, the popcorn, cheap as well.
“We want to encourage people to come and bring their family and enjoy a night out,” she said.
“Everyone has got memories of the Palace. It is nice that people can come back and make new memories.”
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