Reel Cinema in Grantham to close after 35 years

Reel Cinema on St Catherines Road, will close its doors for the final time next week after 35 years.

The cinema, which first opened in 1983, will welcome its last customers next Thursday.

It means that cinemagoers will face a lengthy wait until the new multiplex cinema in Grantham opens next year.

Grantham Reel cinema manager Lisa Bolton said: “The seven of us who work here will be made redundant. We were hoping that the time between closing and the opening of the new cinema would have been shorter so we could have reapplied for a new job. Our customers are also unhappy, especially those that don’t drive, as they will be without a cinema until the new one opens next year.”

The Paragon Cinema was opened on 1 April 1983 with “E.T.:The Extra-Terrestrial”. It was a single screen seating 350 and was built for and operated by independent operator Robin Sanders. A second 166 seat screen was added in 1985.

Robin Sanders retired after nearly 23 years and sold it to Reel Cinemas, of Loughborough in December 2005. It was re-named Reel Cinema in 2007.

Plans to bring a new multi-screen cinema complex to the town centre were announced by South Kesteven District Council in 2014 with cinema chain Savoy named as the new operator last December.

The Grantham Savoy, which will have five screens and a variety of restaurants, is expected to provide a huge boost for the town and the regeneration of St Peter’s Hill.

Reel cinema will close on Thursday, April 26 with a final screening of Peter Rabbit (PG) starring Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie and James Corden as Peter Rabbit and Truth or Dare (15) starring Lucy Hale and Tyler Posey.