Plans to create a new cinema in the centre of Aberdeen have taken a step forward, with work on the complex poised to begin within months.
Several shops at the Bon Accord Centre have been warned that they will have to relocate to other units as a result of the scheme to convert a former bowling alley into the £2.2million cinema.
The affected businesses will have their existing leases honoured before being shifted elsewhere.
Aberdeen Shopping Centre Ltd (ASCL), which owns the building, will also build a “restaurant terrace” on the first floor of the venue.
The firm was granted permission for the development three years ago, and has now approached the council with an application to begin the work.
ASCL bosses said they were in “advanced stages of discussion” with potential restaurant and leisure operators, and anticipate that the units required for the new additions will be vacated by the end of the year.
A planning statement said: “It is hoped that ASCL would then be in a position to implement the works associated with the consented cinema proposals, and restaurant terrace, shortly thereafter.”
Centre manager Craig Stevenson added: “We are hoping to minimise disruption as much as we can and will continue to support our retailers as the new plans progress.”
The seven-screen cinema is scheduled to be 28,000sq ft in size, with capacity to seat 800 people.
When consent was granted in 2014, it was hoped the restaurant would be completed by the end of 2015 and the cinema in early 2016.
