Just weeks before the council is to decide on the future of the EMD cinema building, a last-minute bid has been made to buy the building off the people who want to turn it into a church.
The Waltham Forest Cinema Trust, a not-for-profit group, wants to restore the historic movie house and re-open it as a cinema and entertainment venue. With councillors due to decide on the 18th of May whether to let the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UKCG) convert it to a church, this could be the last chance to save the building as a facility for the benefit of the whole community.
The former Walthamstow MP, Neil Gerrard, the McGuffin Film Society’s Bill Hodgson, Mark Godfrey of the Soho Theatre and Roxanna Silbert of the Royal Shakespeare Company have all joined the new Trust. The group says it has developed a strong business model for the revived cinema which would be financially self-sustaining and would not require any funding from the council.
The venue is a Grade II* listed building and has a rich heritage, being one of the finest and rarest early cinema buildings of its type still surviving in the country. It also has a history of big concerts and in its heyday artists including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Duke Ellington and Johnny Cash played there.
The Trust says it wants to buy the EMD from the UKCG and run it as a mainstream commercial cinema with a restaurant /bar and live performance venue. The newly formed group says the re-opening of the cinema would act as a catalyst for the regeneration of Walthamstow town centre and provide many more benefits for Waltham Forest, including employment opportunities for young people.
Local MP, Stella Creasy, who supports the Waltham Forest Cinema Trust’s efforts, says: “I believe this could not only offer a way of celebrating the heritage of this site but also make a vital contribution to Walthamstow’s night-time economy. I hope Waltham Forest Council will look positively at these proposals.”
The meeting on the evening of 18th May when the planning issue is to be decided is expected to be crowded, with as many as a thousand people reckoned likely to compete for the 100 seats in the council chamber’s public gallery.
