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Cinema To Be New Social Hub?

The Friends of The Birks society was set up about a year and a half ago. The original inspiration was a simple one: that it would be good for Aberfeldy if the currently derelict cinema in the Square – a cinema still associated with many happy memories by older town residents – were renovated and put back into service.

Driven by the enthusiasm of the small group of founder members, this vision was fleshed out – the building was surveyed, and Gaia Architects in Birnam drew up a proposal for a cinema combined with a café. Consultation with Perth & Kinross Council has shown that much needs to be done to bring the cinema up to modern safety standards and provide full access for all residents.

The full scale of the funding required for a full refurbishment is more daunting than originally hoped, but the society has regained its momentum following recent discussions with the Locus Centre team, who manage the building and business premises in which Aberfeldy’s Tourist Office is housed, and the Aberfeldy Drama Club, which owns the Old Church immediately behind the cinema and manages the town’s popular and successful Thrift Shop.

Aberfeldy is an active town, with a large number of outlying communities contributing to social activities and Breadalbane School acting as an educational hub for a large number of young people living both locally and at some distance from the town.

Revitalisation

But in the evening, there is little entertainment available for local residents apart from that provided by a number of pubs and restaurants. A cinema combined with a café is widely felt to be a very desirable way of revitalising the Square and the centre of town, and the concept has received enthusiastic support from residents of Killin, Kenmore and Rannoch, for whom Aberfeldy already acts as a social hub.

Development Trust

Discussions are now afoot with an adviser assigned by the Lottery Fund, with local community councils, and with the Locus Centre and Aberfeldy Drama Club: these bodies all share a number of interests, and it is hoped that discussions might provide the impetus for setting up an Aberfeldy Development Trust, along the lines of successful community trusts in other parts of the county.

While the Friends of the Birks have focused their efforts on refurbishing the cinema, it is clear that the community as a whole would benefit from more widespread efforts to re-establish a social centre in the heart of Aberfeldy. The Friends of the Birks have launched their own website at www.thebirkscinema.org, and some information has already been published there. Membership forms will shortly be made available, and it is hoped that local residents will also contribute their suggestions and memories of the former cinema so that everybody can read, discuss and enjoy them.

By Bill Maslen