Morgan Sindall named preferred contractor for Kirkby Cinema
Construction is set to begin within months according to Knowsley Council, which has already confirmed the site, gained planning permission and secured Reel Cinema as the operator.
Morgan Sindall Construction will undertake pre-construction work, with the understanding that the council will award the company the contract to build the six-screen cinema off Cherryfield Drive.
The cinema building will sit on the site of the old Kirkby Library. It will also have three food and drink outlets. The scheme was designed by Saunders Architecture + Design. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority contributed £2.8m towards the project.
The cinema development is the second phase of the council’s efforts to regenerate the town centre. The first phase was the construction of 94,000 sq ft of retail, including a Morrisons superstore, Home Bargains, drive-through Taco Bell and KFC.
“Our plans for Kirkby Town Centre always extended beyond the retail development,” said Tony Brennan, regeneration and economic development cabinet member with the council.
“We have listened to what our residents want for their town and, as you can see with the supermarket and the retail development, we are delivering exactly what they have asked for,” he continued.
“Our priority now is to deliver the cinema scheme, and the three food and drink outlets, which will not only provide the facilities our residents asked for, but will also create local jobs for local people.”
Richard Potts, area director for Liverpool with Morgan Sindall Construction, praised the cinema project.
“Knowsley Council is currently delivering a brilliant regeneration programme for Kirkby,” Potts said.
“By revitalising the town centre, it is laying the groundwork to make a Kirkby a better place to live, work and play for decades to come. We’re very pleased to have been named preferred contractor for this new cinema, and look forward to working with the council to help make its vision a reality.”
An independent bistro or restaurant that mature residents can eat out and have a nice meal and drinks in the evening is needed in Kirkby, so that adults who enjoy an alcoholic drink(s) with their meal do not have to Dr and drive, they should be able to walk home from a nice restaurant in Kirkby that has a writer/waitress service in a decent restaurant, at the moment Kirkby adults do not have a nice place to go out and have a nice meal and drinks in the evening in Kirkby and a place worth getting dressed up for.
By Pat