A community rallying call has been made to help achieve the dream of a cinema for Carnoustie.
The big screen vision is the latest addition to proposals for the planned Kinloch Centre, but those driving the project say it will take hard work and not an insignificant amount of money to deliver a cinema at the heart of the community hub.
As Montrose also pursues plans for a cinema on the site of the town’s now disused former swimming pool, Kinloch Centre project chairman Peter Murphy said the ambition will only be achieved if the whole town is behind the effort.
The steering group has been working for some years on plans for the Kinloch site, building its coffers through events including car boot sales and with further plans including regular farmers’ markets and the prospect of the town Christmas lights switch-on to be moved from the site of the war memorial to the old primary site.
Mr Murphy said the cinema hope had emerged as a core demand from a community survey.
“We hope the cinema will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including retractable seating for up to 120 people and run in tandem with a licensed bistro/caf along the lines of other similar cinemas already operating in semi-rural communities such as Aberfeldy, Langholm, Banchory, Stornoway and Lerwick,” he added.
“This would be something that we believe would not just be a benefit to Carnoustie, but could attract people from other areas who could enjoy a cinema if it was provided here, rather than having to drive past the town to Dundee.
“Our hope would be for it to perform a dual role, as a routine cinema with screenings of current releases, but also an event cinema for special showings.”
A specialist consultant has already been engaged to help the group with a plan which could cost around £2 million to deliver.
Mr Murphy added: “We have been given additional time by Angus Council, with whom we have a partnership to produce a robust business plan for the finalised vision to go ahead, which will be based on the accommodation brief that Nicoll Russell architects, based in Broughty Ferry, have just outlined to the project group.
“The two main demands identified in the accommodation brief were the provision of a cinema and public toilets and we will do our best within the constraints of our budget to meet these needs.
“But we are, in making these commitments, conscious as a group that we will need the support of the whole of Carnoustie if we are to raise the very considerable amount of cash we will need to make the project become a reality over the coming years.
“The project group represents a range of talents, including voluntary consultants David Sawers, a former chief executive of Angus Council, and Bob Ness, a vastly experienced figure on community education, now based at Carnoustie Access office.
“Besides the hard-working project group members, we also have over 600 Friends in the town who have paid a £5 subscription to support the development of the project, and we have the backing of the Haven charity shop.”
Former teacher and Angus councillor Mr Murphy, at the age of 81, has taken a personal lead in the fundraising drive by raising around £3,000 for the project by tackling the Edinburgh Marathon in May in a time of just over five and a half hours.
“I hope this will inspire others in the community, not just 81-year-olds, to come up with ways of raising money on our behalf because we will only succeed in our endeavour if the whole of the town is behind us,” he said.