We are delighted that Burrell Foley Fischer have been appointed as architects to prepare a Feasibility Study for the restoration of the Broadway, Preswick into a neighbourhood cinema and community hub. Registered charity Friends of the Broadway Prestwick have announced today that they “have commissioned the UK’s leading architectural firm of heritage cinema and theatre restoration to draw up plans for the iconic 1930s building on Prestwick Main Street”.
The Broadway Cinema was officially opened on 29th April 1935 as Prestwick’s new super cinema with a grand opening ceremony and the film ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’. With a capacity of 1,060 seats, beautifully designed in Art Deco with state-of-the-art projection equipment, and featuring a furnished tea room and four new shop units, the Broadway instantly became a jewel in Prestwick’s crown and a central hub for the community. Designed by the famous cinema architect Alister Gladstone MacDonald, the Broadway was constructed with an elegant central tower and Art Deco wings curving in to meet it above wide entrance doors and a sheltered canopy. The architect was the son of Ramsey MacDonald, the UK’s first labour Prime Minister.
Image courtesy of the Friends of Broadway Prestwick
The Broadway brought the magic of film to the town during the golden age of cinema and stood as a pillar of the community for decades. Sadly, the rise of television ownership in the second half of the century led to a reduction in cinema going and, like many other cinemas, Broadway eventually became a bingo hall and then a leisure centre before closing completely in 2003.
Friends of the Broadway Prestwick was founded in 2012 by local volunteers, with the aim of purchasing the building and reopening the Broadway Cinema once again. After many years of work, they have signed a licence to occupy the cinema with the current owners, and have secured funding from the Coastal Communities Fund to undertake a Feasibility Study into the options for restoring the Category C Listed Building and reopen it as a neighbourhood cinema and community hub.
Image courtesy of the Friends of Broadway Prestwick
Burrell Foley Fischer have four decades of experience designing all types of community arts buildings, used for drama to music and dance to cinema. The majority of our arts projects utilise existing buildings in some way. Our projects have included the Broadway Media Centre in Nottingham, Cinema City in Norwich, Listed Grade I, the Scala Cinema in Prestatyn and the Rio in London, Listed Grade II. Most recently we completed the refurbishment and remodelling of the Campbeltown Picture House, a Category A Listed Building on the Kintyre Peninsula, which is now a thriving neighbourhood cinema and community hub.
The restored historic cinema screen at Campbeltown Picture House
Trustee Kyle Macfarlane said:
“Prestwick residents have spoken clearly about their desire to preserve ‘the soul of the Broadway’. The vision for the Broadway Cinema is definitely cinematic, but the Broadway will be so much more than just a cinema. It is to be a flexible multi-use space which will use its evocative 1930s auditorium to maximum effect. It will be able to support everything from the smallest of community gatherings to the largest of gala film shows, and all points in between. It will be, in essence, a living room for the town.
Burrell Foley Fischer will be producing a feasibility study which will bring the community’s vision for the Broadway to life. We are incredibly excited to be working with the best heritage cinema architects in the country. The Broadway deserves nothing less”.
Image shows (left to right) Friends of the Broadway Trustee Kyle Macfarlane, Faye Davies, Managing Director of Burrell Foley Fischer architects, and Chloe Chandler from Emplace Design (structural engineers). Group are pictured inside the Broadway’s surviving 1930s art deco auditorium.
Faye Davies, Managing Director of Burrell Foley Fischer and a Specialist Conservation Architect said:
“As architects we understand the value placed on a town’s historic buildings by its citizens and the importance of restoring them to modern uses without losing the look and feel of the spaces which are fondly remembered and loved. We take immense pleasure in designing cinemas that meet modern cinemagoers expectations of facilities and comfort but are also flexible enough to contribute to economic regeneration and play a much wider role as a hub for the community. We therefore look forward to working with the Friends of Broadway Prestwick on the next stage of their journey to turn their dreams into reality.”