Cameo roles offered in major cinema revamp

Published on Tuesday 15 December 2009 21:49

FOUR years ago its historic auditorium was threatened with being turned into a bar-restaurant.

Now film fans who flock to one of Scotland's most important cinemas are being given the chance to have their favourite seat named after them under plans for its most significant revamp for almost 20 years.

Some 200,000 is expected to be spent overhauling ageing infrastructure and revamping the facade and famous entrance hall of the Cameo, in Edinburgh's Tollcross area.

The 95-year-old cinema's historic ticket booths, which have been unused for years, and foyer will be restored to their former glory. Ageing toilet blocks will be replaced and the notorious drains are finally set to be overhauled under plans revealed yesterday.

The planned work is the most significant since two new screens were added to the cinema in 1991.

The cinema's owners, London-based City Screen, hope to raise more than 80,000 through a seat-naming campaign, which will target some of the cinema's best-known supporters, including directors Ken Loach and Quentin Tarantino, and Trainspotting star Ewen Bremner.

The latter fronted the campaign against the bar-restaurant scheme three years ago. The cinema was put up for sale at the same time as City Screen applied for planning permission to rip out most of the seats in the main auditorium.

But the plans were withdrawn in the wake of a huge outcry. The owners later took the cinema off the market.

The Cameo's seat-naming scheme will offer cinema-goers the chance to get a brass plaque on a seat along with the wording of their choice for just 150.

Johnny Munro, marketing manager at the cinema, said: "Although our bar was extended into the site of an old sweetie shop five years ago, this will definitely be the most significant work here since our two smaller screens were added.

"We built up a lot of support after the 'Save the Cameo' campaign was launched and we're hoping a lot of those people who got in touch at the time will be interested in supporting the refurbishment."