The Exeter Picturehouse to close for a major 2010 facelift

The Exeter Picturehouse will close for two weeks later in the year for a major refurbishment.

The independent two screen cinema in Bartholomew Street West, Exeter, is scheduled to be shut from Monday, September 20 while builders carry out major upgrade work to the building.

A gala re-opening is then planned for Wednesday, October 7, to be attended by leading local figures in the arts and entertainments industries.

The proposed facelift will incorporate new seating for both screens, including plush new luxury sofa style seating for the rear area of the larger Screen One. The bar will also be getting a make over with a new serving counter and furniture, while the toilets will be modernised and the outside of the building painted.

City Screen Ltd, based in London and Suffolk, which owns the Picturehouse, are carrying out the work after enjoying several years’ of excellent profitability across the company.

“It’s really exciting,” Exeter Picturehouse general manager Andy Botterill told D+CFilm. “Judging by the plans, the cinema is going to look really outstanding, a facility the whole city can be proud of. It truly will be the best place in the South West to view films and will bring the whole building up to the same standard as the cinema’s state of the art digital projection facilities. I’m sure our members, as well as customers old and new, will be delighted to hear of the proposed refurbishment. We anticipate our new luxury sofas will prove particularly popular with them and will be the first seats to be sold for most screenings.”

The Exeter Picturehouse is the only cinema in the area to have full digital projection facilities in all its screens, and recently also had 3D installed in screen one.

The Exeter Picturehouse opened in 1996, showing the best in quality mainstream, arthouse, foreign language and classic cinema. It has since also established itself as the premier local venue for the screening of live satellite events like The Metropolitan Opera and National Theatre Live. While other leisure facilities have come and gone in the city in that time, the Exeter Picturehouse has proved consistently popular and one of the best nights out in Exeter.

For further information on the refurbishment work contact Exeter Picturehouse general manager Andy Botterill on 01392 285960 or email andy.b@picturehouses.co.uk