A MULTIPLEX cinema planned for the rooftop of the Alhambra Centre has been scrapped, the Chronicle can reveal.
Empire Cinemas had been lined up to operate the multiplex and the shock announcement it will not be going ahead comes just weeks after final permissions were given to increase the number of screens from nine to ten.
The blockbuster rooftop development, first revealed three years ago, has been derailed by Barnsley Council signing up Cineworld to operate a 13-screen multiplex as part of its £120m town centre makeover, the shopping centre’s owners have said.
Alister Thompson, director of asset management at BMO Real Estate Partners, which owns the Alhambra, told the Chronicle: “In view of Barnsley Council’s announcement earlier this year that Cineworld has signed up to a new cinema in the town centre, the proposed development for a second cinema in such close proximity at the Alhambra Shopping centre is no longer viable and will not be proceeding.
“BMO Real Estate Partners continues to work closely with the council to integrate its new scheme (The Glass Works) into the Alhambra shopping centre to create a bigger, better and more vibrant town centre for the benefit of all of Barnsley and the surrounding areas.”
Read more in this weeks Barnsley Chronicle
