The Plaza

The Plaza is a former cinema in Port Talbot. The building is listed for protection as Grade II.[1] The cinema opened in April 1940.[2][3] It has a modern design with Art Deco influences.[2] Patrons included Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins.[4]

History

The cinema was built in 1939 and opened in April 1940.[2] It initially closed as a cinema in 1983 with the film Tootsie when it was converted into a bingo club.[3] It re-opened again as a cinema on 18 October 1985 with Walt Disney's Peter Pan.[3] It finally closed on 4 January 1999 after several multiplex cinemas had opened around the venue, starving the cinema of "first run" new release film product.[3]

The cinema was listed Grade II on 4 August 1999 because it was considered a very rare example in Wales of 1930s cinema architecture,[2] with an interior which was largely intact.[2] It was purchased by the local authority in 2009, but by 2019 the building was derelict, and a campaign was launched to save it and turn it over for community use.[5]

In March 2021 Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council announced that £3.6 million had been set aside to convert the space to include a café and gym, office space, conference area, recording studio and shops.[6] By November 2021 work on the refurbishment of the cinema and its reopening as a community hub were under way.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Howells, Roe, "Plaza Cinema, Talbot Road, Port Talbot", Cinema Treasures
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Plaza Cinema". BritishListedBuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "26 classic Welsh cinemas you went to as a child that aren't there now - Port Talbot, Plaza". Media Wales. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Cinema reopening could threaten Port Talbot's theatre, 6 October 2015
  5. ↑ Michael Burgess (8 September 2019). "Port Talbot Plaza: The cinema being reclaimed by nature". BBC. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Neath Port Talbot's major capital projects during 2021/22". Port Talbot Guardian. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Lucy John; Molly Dowrick (17 November 2021). "This is what's planned for the old Plaza cinema in Port Talbot as multi-million pound development works near completion". Retrieved 26 March 2022.

51°35′30″N 3°46′45″W / 51.5918°N 3.7791°W / 51.5918; -3.7791

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