NEW signage has been installed at an iconic town centre cinema.
A heritage grant of £123,000 was awarded to the family-run Parkway Cinema by the Eldon Street High Street Heritage Action Zone – enabling renovation works, improving the frontage and reinstating the 1950s-style illuminated cinema signage.
On Sunday, more signage was installed outside.
Owner Rob Younger said: “I’m delighted to see that all of the major signage is now installed.
“It has been made to be as close as possible to the original 1956 Gaumont sign.
“The size, colour and font are exact copies of the originals, some of which were still here at the cinema.
“Unfortunately, the signage company thought that just two sets of characters would be enough for us to use on the Readograph sign, which is ridiculous.
“We’re unable to use this until we have more letters made, for which we will be using a local company.
“Of course, a massive amount of work has gone into repairing and restoring the concrete around the front of the cinema, which was crumbling at an alarming rate.
“That is why the full scaffold was in place for so many weeks, but this work isn’t so obvious.
“We think that the new signs look amazing, especially at night and will really help to brighten up Eldon Street.
“The final stages of the renovation are yet to come – this involves repairing and/or replacing the tiles around the front doors, stripping and repainting the exit doors and restoring the canopy front to its original style.”
