'Owners did all they could': Sadness at closure of Stafford Cinema
The closure of Stafford's historic cinema is 'shocking and sad', a councillor has said.
The cinema in Newport Road closed last week, just 10 months after being saved by AJH Cinema.
The news comes after a £6.5 million Odeon Luxe opened in the town centre in November.
Councillor Christine Baron, for Forebridge, said the owners had cut ticket prices to £5 in recent weeks but the venue did not get the support it needed to stay open.
She said: "I was so shocked and sad at the news because I knew that the people who ran it worked so hard to keep it up and running and I worked with them.
"They tried their best but they just didn't get the support.
"The new cinema opened and they knew it was going to be competition but people just didn't go to support them even when they brought the prices down to £5. They did everything they could.
"I look at that building and many years ago it was a bingo hall, but I really don't know what it should be now, I can't see what else it would be.
"I don't want it to stay empty. We need someone with a lot of money and bright ideas.
"Maybe it could be made into a small theatre, but we have the Gatehouse so I don't know.
"There are a lot of memories from it but you can't live on memories."
The Stafford Cinema dates back to the 1930s and has 800 seats.
