Footscray residents will no longer have to hoof it to Yarraville to get their cinema fix as new plans for a cinema complex in the heart of Footscray have been unveiled this week.
According to Star Weekly, Yarraville’s Sun Theatre co-owner Michael Smith has confirmed plans to open a cinema complex on the former Forges site (RIP) on Albert Street, Footscray.
The new $70 million development plan was approved by Maribyrnong council last week. Property developers Banco Group put in a proposal that includes two towers (one 15 storeys, the other 12 storeys) consisting of over 200 apartments, a new six-screen cinema, restaurant, bar, supermarket, medical centre and shops, all topped by a 120-room nursing home.
The old Forges site has been vacant since November of 2008, and with the new developments, it’s anticipated that the existing building, car park and sky bridge over Albert Street will be demolished.
Smith says the talks for a cinema have been in action for over two years now and is looking forward to increasing the range of local and arthouse films already shown at the Sun. “We will have eight screens at Yarraville and eight screens at Footscray, 16 screens all together, which is going to give us the opportunity to increase the range of films we show, to show more arthouse films,” he told the Star.
The new cinema complex could open as soon as 2019. In the meantime, Smith says he wants to “whet the appetite” of cinema-loving residents with some outdoor screenings on the rooftop of the building beside the new site, hopefully kicking things off next summer.
Via Star Weekly.