Phased opening planned for Preston leisure site

Preston’s long-awaited cinema, restaurant and leisure complex will open in phases from the middle of February, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) can reveal.

The city centre ‘Animate’ development had recently been billed for a spring opening, but its attractions will now start to welcome their first customers in less than six weeks.

The £45.8m scheme – alongside the market hall – will feature an eight-screen ARC Cinema, Hollywood Bowl and six eateries: Ask Italian, world buffet Cosmo, the South American-themed Las Iguanas, Mexican-inspired Taco Bell, café-bar chain Loungers and the street food outlets of the Mad Giant Food Hall.

A unit reserved for a competitive games activity – like an escape room – is the only one of the nine spaces in the two-storey building yet to be filled.

The LDRS understands that one of the restaurants will fire up its kitchen and become the first outlet to open at some point during the week commencing 10th February.

The flagship cinema will follow late the week after – which coincides with the school half term holiday.

At this stage, it is expected the Hollywood Bowl will be next up – either towards the end of February or into early March – with the rest of the restaurants serving up their first meals thereafter.   It is not known exactly when the staggered opening will be completed.

Construction of the Preston City Council-owned facility finished at the end of November and since then, the tenants that have signed up to the scheme have been fitting out their premises.

Mark Whittle, manager of Preston’s Business Improvement District (BID), hopes the development will attract visitors from far and wide.

“The city’s leisure offer is about to be strengthened further, with new and popular brands choosing ‘Animate’, in which to locate,” he said.

“We’re hoping that the new additions create yet more reasons for people across Lancashire to enjoy the city’s award-winning hospitality offer, and experience a warm Prestonian welcome.

“We’re on the cusp of exciting times in the city, with the arrival of Animate, the re-opening of the Harris this summer, an eclectic 2025 events programme and further large-scale developments in the pipeline.

“Hopefully, the delivery of the Animate scheme – and planned public realm improvements – will provide real confidence to investors that Preston is a strong contender when it comes to opening a new business or re-locating an existing one.”

The original vision for the project dates back more than a decade to when the location was identified as a potential plot for the cinema-led regeneration of the area. That plan was formally adopted in 2016 and the blueprint for Animate followed as part of a proposed new market hall and the demolition of the old indoor market and multi-storey car park, which is where the new attraction now stands.

The final version of the Animate proposal was granted planning permission in March 2022.