You won’t believe your ears when you return to the Pavilion

The Pavilion Cinema in Galashiels will soon welcome back film-lovers ... and it is set to be an ear-opening experience.
Screen one in the Pavilion Cinema, Galashiels.Screen one in the Pavilion Cinema, Galashiels.
Screen one in the Pavilion Cinema, Galashiels.

The cinema, which is celebrating 100 years in the town this year, is among the 24 projects across the country to have received support from The National Lottery through Screen Scotland’s Cinema Equipment Fund towards the purchase of new equipment to host accessible community cinema.

In line with the Scottish Government’s latest Covid-19 guidance, all 24 projects can now begin plans to get up and running and welcoming audiences, as soon as they’re able, from Wednesday, July 15.

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The £67,951 funding will be used to upgrade sound equipment across all four of its screens to provide an enhanced cinema experience.

Director Andrew Poole said: “We are extremely grateful for this funding from Screen Scotland which will enable us to upgrade all four screens to Dolby 7.1 sound, transforming audio provision for all our customers.

“In the current economic climate, we wouldn’t have been able to embark on such an ambitious project without this vital support.”

The Pavilion will also install assistive systems to support screenings for those with hearing loss and audio description screenings to make screenings fully accessible.

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The wireless audio system delivers both hearing impaired for those patrons who are hard-of-hearing patrons, and visually impaired narration.

The system includes a transmitter which integrates with the cinema’s digital server, and a tablet that allows staff to program receivers for use in any of the four auditoriums.

Screen Scotland’s Jennifer Armitage said: “This round of awards concludes the year-long programme of capital investment in cultural and community cinemas in Scotland.

“When we launched the Cinema Equipment Fund last year, we had no idea what 2020 was going to bring, but investing in the resilience of Scotland’s film exhibition sector is more important than ever.

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“When Scotland’s cinemas reopen, they will be able to offer high quality experiences, with varied programmes, and within local communities.”

Joan McAlpine, list MSP for the south of Scotland, said: “I’m delighted to hear that community run cinemas in the south of Scotland have been awarded grants from the Cinema Equipment Fund.

Cinemas have been badly hit by the pandemic so this will be a very welcome boost.

“This funding will enable these cinemas to upgrade their facilities to a much higher standard.

“Hopefully this will encourage more visitors once the threat of coronavirus transmission is low enough for them to re-open again.”