Cinema-goers to Malmesbury Town Hall can now watch their favourite films in comfort thanks to the installation of tiered, retractable seating, funded by Malmesbury Town Council.
Old dining chairs have been replaced by pocket-sprung seats, which stack neatly at the back of the Town Hall Assembly Room. The seating is deployed at the touch of a button, setting up takes minutes, and is just as quickly stowed.
At a special VIP screening event, Malmesbury Town Council showed off its new seating, which cost £50,000, and can accommodate 100 people, with space at the front for wheelchair users.
An additional £40,000 has been spent replacing the unreliable projector. Half the cost for this has come from the council with the rest made up of donations*, largely from local businesses and organisations.
The council funds have come from reserves but, with the extra income that the new seating is likely to generate – with more performances, including music and theatre productions, and bigger audiences – the investment will eventually pay for itself.
A steering group, led by Cllr Steve D’Arcy with volunteers from the Movies@Malmesbury project, was behind the project.
“People told us that the old seating was putting them off coming to see films and livestreamed events at the Town Hall,” said Cllr D’Arcy. “In fact, some Malmesbury residents would travel to other venues, even if we had the films here first, simply because the seats were so uncomfortable. Nor could we ever show films with subtitles because the view was restricted.
“This seating is a real gamechanger, because it’s something the whole community can benefit from, it’ll give us greater scope for music and theatre productions, and generate an income which we can use in Malmesbury.”
The seating is already being put to good use. One matinee of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a sellout, and at the special screening for councillors, Movies@Malmesbury members and supporters, and other VIPs, the guests were equally enthusiastic.
The new tiered seating, which was manufactured and installed by a Wiltshire-based Audience Systems, also allows for better viewing of livestreams. Malmesbury audiences have already enjoyed a performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore, livestreamed from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Movies@Malmesbury shows matinees and evening screenings at Malmesbury Town Hall, usually on Mondays and Fridays with live streamed musical concerts mid-week. For the cinema programme, screen times and to book tickets visit https://cinema.malmesbury.gov.uk/in-cinemas
*donations for the projector have come from Persimmon Homes, Malmesbury Area Community Trust, Malmesbury League of Friends, the Area Board, St Paul Malmesbury Without Parish Council, James Dyson Foundation, Warden and Freemen of Malmesbury, and Charlton Parish Council.
Special guests at a VIP screening of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, enjoying the new tiered, retractable seating at Malmesbury Town Hall.
Photo, curtesy of Richard Harris.
Check out this video of Audience Systems installing the seating installed.
