The Cube cinema in Bristol is a hub of community action and culture but it is now threatened with closure as the lease on the building is about to expire. The lease was the only privately-held component to the multiplex which has been run by volunteers for nearly 15 years.
The plan now is to raise money to buy the building and make improvements and as someone who has had to carry a buggy with a sleeping 4-month-old in it down the steep steps and then back up the ones to the cinema, I can’t wait for this to happen. Instead of rent going to the landlord it will be going back to the enterprise.
A purchase price of £185,000 has been agreed with the landlord and almost £45,000 has been raised so far through donations and fundraising events.
More information is available on this page: http://www.cubecinema.com/freehold/
I hope they raise the money as the Cube is a lovely place that could have become a favourite if I had more time and mobility. I saw Husbands there at a baby-and-me cinema visit when they ran around to get the dvd started as I was the only customer. I took my filter coffee in with me and M slept through as Falk and Cassavetes raged on with their manly debacles. It was an even more poignant visit as Peter Falk died that week.
It was also the first place my daughter and I saw Kid Carpet and the Noisy Animals. This place doesn’t just pay lip service to the notion of a community enterprise, it actually feels engaging and welcoming. “The Cube premises have a rich history, having been occupied at various times by a recycling depot, a girls’ school and a centre for the hearing impaired. At some point it was home to an amateur dramatics group who hand-built the stage and seating of the auditorium. It hosts a single screen and has a red-velvet-seated capacity of 103.” ( – David Biddell, see link)
Other links:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/apr/24/cine-files-cube-microplex-bristol
Ephemeral digest 
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