Preston’s new Arc cinema complex officially open

Preston’s new cinema and leisure complex will become “a great centre to the city”, according to Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park.

The born-and-bred Prestonian was given the honour of officially opening the long-awaited ‘Animate’ development and its flagship Arc Cinema on Thursday evening – to the strains of the Preston Concert Band playing his famous duo’s signature tune.

It marked the realisation of an embryonic vision for a city centre cinema that can be traced back to the late 1990s – and which was crystallised in regeneration plans drawn up almost a decade ago.

Earlier in the afternoon, Nick also unveiled a statue of his most infamous creation – evil penguin Feathers McGraw.

Fresh from double BAFTA-winning success for Wallace and Gromit’s latest outing, “Vengeance Most Fowl”, the famous city son told a hundreds-strong crowd he was sure Wallace and Gromit – who were themselves immortalised in bronze outside Preston Market Hall in 2021- would be “very pleased” to be joined by their nemesis, even if Feathers was standing “a little bit too close for comfort”.

Speaking to reporters before jetting off to the Oscars – where the film is up for Best Animated Feature – Nick said:  “For me, it’s just wonderful to see something here for the people of Preston – something optimistic that’s just creating a great…centre to the city.

“When I think of how I grew up in Preston, this is just so plush…and I just think [it] being in the city centre here…makes the community feel important – that this is for us to enjoy.”

Asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service how important it was that the Preston City Council-owned Animate scheme was a commercial success, the authority’s Labour leader, Matthew Brown, acknowledged that there is “a risk to everything we do”.

However, he said he had every confidence the £45.8m project – much of it funded by borrowing – would benefit the city in more ways than one.

“We’ve obviously done studies into cinema and there’s a huge demand for city centre cinemas again and…[for] a more creative economy – having an experience when you go into the city centre.  So we are very confident it is going be successful

“As a city authority, we put our money where our mouth is – [we] invested in our community. Yes, it is [about] seeing amazing films and eating and enjoying the units that we have here.  But it’s also the jobs and the knock-on effect,” Cllr Brown said.

It is estimated Animate will support more than 300 full and part-time jobs when it is fully open.   Two of its six eateries – cafe bar Argento Lounge and Mexican-inspired Taco Bell – are already trading, with Ask Italian, the Mad Giant Food Hall of independent street food businesses, Cosmo World Buffet and Las Iguanas all set to follow in the coming months.

A Hollywood Bowl also opens early next month and space is reserved for a competitive games outlet such as an escape room, although that space is yet to be filled.

Andrew Dewhurst, from Maple Grove Developments – the firm which constructed Animate in less than 100 weeks – said it was important the complex did not “rely on just one entertainment venue”.   He added that the private sector would have been unable to deliver the scheme that the city council had.

Cllr Brown said the opening of Animate also marked a decisive break from previous attempts at city centre regeneration which had not come to pass – such as the retail-led Tithebarn project in the late 2000s.

“[We are] doing it very differently so the whole city benefits – we didn’t want to have corporations running the show like was being mooted 15 or 20 years ago,” he added.

Meanwhile, Merlin Crossingham, co-director of the latest Wallace and Gromit film, said “the experience of watching films together” at cinemas like the one now open at Animate was still one to be cherished, even in the age of streaming. He added that it was “heartwarming” to see so many people turn out for the Feathers McGraw unveiling.

Preston Mayor Phil Crowe had earlier this the week given some not-so-subtle hints as to the figure that would be revealed at the Animate launch – warning Prestonians that a “terrifying” suspect was on the loose, who was known to be the leader of “an organised gang of evil gnomes”.

Chris Jones, from the Castle Fine Arts Foundry, which created Preston’s very own incarnation of Feathers, said the character – which is now one of the most popular tattoo designs in the country – had been looking at him and his colleagues “with his wee beady eyes” for about a year.

He said it had been important to make a direct link between the piece and the Wallace and Gromit bench outside the market.

“I think [to] have that final connection between the two pieces animates the whole space and works really well – [although] you never quite know until it’s put in place,” Chris said.