Bexhill's only cinema closes

Proprietor Philip Cotterill told the Observer he had shut down the Redstack Playhouse this week for financial and personal reasons.

He says 20,000 is required for the venue to meet fire hazard regulations after a review was conducted late last year.

Mr Cotterill also said he wished to concentrate on family matters following the birth of his son, who was three-months premature.

Furniture and equipment was seen being removed from the building this week.

The closure represents the end of another chapter in the chequered history of the cinema.

Mr Cotterill took over the ailing Western Road venue in 2005. Formerly the Curzon, he rebranded it the, 'Redstack Playhouse' and brought in jazz, opera and comedy acts alongside the films.

The venue was refurbished at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds and a new stage and bar installed.

But audience numbers have dwindled since the successful reopening.

"I don't have the cash or the energy," said Mr Cotterill.

"When I bought the place we had the fire brigade come and check the access and the safety measures and it was all fine. Now we have been told we need to find 20,000 for access, lighting and the fire alarm system - which it has not had since being there from 1921.

"I don't want to criticise, there is nothing more important than safety and I know that better than most people, but who has 20,000 just lying around?

"I have already put my life savings into it and I'm all for trying to do it as a non-profit making business, but I just can't. There is no support from local government, but I wouldn't want to go cap in hand and the money wouldn't come quickly enough anyway.

"My son was also born three months premature. He is doing okay now, but your priorities do change and I want to spend time with my family.

"I have put so much effort in but I just can't do it anymore."

Mr Cotterill says he would like to see the building used as a multipurpose entertainment venue, as he believes it would struggle to make money as just a cinema.

He said: "To put on the latest films the distributors would want it to be just a cinema and we would come a poor third for them behind Eastbourne and Hastings - it would take at least six weeks to get those films.

"We put on the old movies and they were well attended to start, but then we got just four people coming and we were putting on a film that cost 300. It just isn't viable.

"We had some great nights there and raised over 10,000 for charity. But to attract the really big names you had to have a full house."

Whoever takes over the venue will have a 'gem' of a building on their hands thanks to the work which has been done, says Mr Cotterill.

He added: "It is just a shame and I am sad. I don't want people to think I have let Bexhill down.

"If I won the lottery I would invest in it again. I love the town and I love the people."

* The cinema has been called the 'The Playhouse', 'The Classic' and 'The Curzon' under different owners during its troubled history.

The venue has been hit by regular closures as it struggled to attract audiences.

It is the town's sole remaining cinema after the Gaiety was bombed in 1940, the Bijou (later the Savoy) closed in the 1950's and the Ritz closed in 1961.