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29
Jul
Hopes for return of cinema to Ripon 'very much alive'
After months of behind-the-scenes discussions, proposals for a community cinema in Ripon are progressing well.
Robert Sterne, director of Sterne Properties Limited, which owns the building on North Street where Curzon operated a two-screen cinema up until July 2023, told the Stray Ferret:
Our hopes of bringing the building back into use by transforming it into a community-led venture are very much alive.
We have two prospective operators working together on a proposal and will work closely with them to facilitate negotiations with Curzon, which still holds a lease on the property.
At the time of Curzon's withdrawal from Ripon, Sterne Properties unveiled its vision for a community-run cinema, operating alongside a leisure hub with play centre designed for families with young children and also including a café/restaurant and retail unit.
In July 2023, Mr Sterne, pointed out:
One cinema screen would be retained to be run as a community project. That way overheads, and therefore ticket prices, can be reduced whilst continuing to show a range of great films and streaming of live events.
Leisure sector expertise
In 2013, Sterne Properties’ conversion of a former furniture store in North Street, provided the wherewithal for Curzon to come to Ripon and bring cinema back to the city, 31 years after the final curtain at the Palladium on Kirkgate.
The Ripon-based company, set up by Robert Sterne's father Martin, has been investing in its home city for more than 30 years.
It has a strong track record in the refurbishment and reconfiguration of redundant buildings, to create mixed-use leisure and hospitality-led schemes that include a residential element.
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