The Belmont Filmhouse has announced it is set to reopen on Monday, almost six months after closing its doors due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
The much-loved cinema, located on Belmont Street, has undergone a number of major changes to ensure the safety of customers and staff ahead of the reopening.
Customers must now book their ticket online before visiting, and seating has been divided into socially distanced “pods” for different households.
Distancing signage and floor markings have been introduced in the building, plastic protective screens have been placed at service points, hand sanitiser is being located throughout the building and contactless payment will be required when buying drinks and snacks.
As with all cinemas, face coverings are also mandatory for those who can wear them.
Finally the news you've been waiting for… after almost 6 months, @BelmontFh is reopening on Monday!! ❤️📽️⫸
// We've got some fantastic films lined up for you – read all about it, as well as what you need to know about booking tickets & visiting here! https://t.co/OW46Z4ywqv pic.twitter.com/X8FpBit0HD
— Belmont Filmhouse (@BelmontFh) September 8, 2020
Colin Farquhar, head of cinema operations at the Belmont, said: “It feels great. There’s still a lot to do before Monday, and I’m sure I’ll be in over the weekend finishing up a couple of things.
“We’ve got a couple of installs to do, like plastic screens between the customers and the staff, and the last bits are getting done at the weekend.
“But even though I’m talking about being in over the weekend, it feels like we’ve got to the point where we don’t need to rush, we can think about it.
“We know we’ve got a lot of work to do, when we get customers back into the building there’ll be stuff we’ve not thought of, and I think the key thing for us is just to be flexible and adaptable.
“I’m just looking forward to having people back in.”
At the end of June, the cinema launched a £25,000 fundraising drive to help it to reopen, asking members of the public to donate £40.
The target was hit just 16 days later.
Mr Farquhar gave an insight into the films cinema-goers can expect to see on the Belmont’s screens in the coming weeks, saying: “Tenet will be the big one, that starts on Monday.
“We’ve also got Parasite – the black and white version and a couple of showings of the other one as well.
“We’ve got a couple of Icelandic films coming up, The County and A White, White Day.
“There’s a couple of films we showed before lockdown that didn’t get a full run, which is And Then We Danced and we’ve got Misbehaviour back on as well.”
