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Southport's Bijou Cinema Opening Night

THE former Southport Lodge's Masonic Hall, is hidden on Post Office Avenue, Southport and dates back to 1922. The building since the Freemasons moved out in 1958, it has changed usage, becoming offices for Sefton Council, falling in to disrepair and then being earmarked for demolition, until its listings saved it. The building was then purchased by the Adams family and repurposed again as a restaurant, opening as The Latin Lounge. The venue in 2006 changed to become the Letter Box Cocktail Bar and Saffron Lounge, but changed back a year later to The Latin Lounge. Now the property has again been extensively refurbished throughout and given a new lease of life as a community cinema. If you are not 100% as to the location of the venue, it is situated just off Lord Street, interconnecting with both the business and retail areas of the Town, at the side of Sainsbury’s. Its location makes it exceptionally well positioned for the retail amenities, hotels, other entertainment and leisure businesses, along with the Town’s public transport links.

Last week we reported that the Southport Bijou Cinema had opened with a sell out screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, on Saturday, 19 October 2019. Those who attended told us that:- "Songs were sung, dances were danced, and awards were given for the Best Costume, of which there were many!"

We have also been told that both Manager, Andy and Bijou Owner, Mike, want to thank the volunteers who allowed the evening to run as perfectly as did:- "Ste and Cameron on the bar, Dominic on the projection, and Suzie and Bruce ushering. The evening wouldn’t have worked without them, and the thanks are endless. Thanks also to Patrick from Southport Reporter for the Halloween Display, Aharon Sugden who provided the fire dancer display, to Ambient Construction for their dedicated work, and to everyone who bought a ticket and came to support the film and cinema."

We are also pleased to announce that the fun goes on, as this Halloween, the Bijou Cinema will play host to a Children’s Spooky Storytime from Tony Higginson, of Purple Penguin Books! Tony will be reading, live in person, some spooky stories for all ages, this Halloween, at Southport's newest Cinema, located at 8 Post Office Avenue, Southport, PR90US. This will be a magical Story Time of Children's Halloween tales, that will not be tooooo frightening... Weeee Promise.... Tony is a former Bookshop owner and now works with top authors from all over the world. So you will definitely get some amazing stories from him. So if you attend, you can sit back and relax as your children listen and you can sample the coffee and other treats on offer at the venue’s bar... To book tickets for this event and to discover more about this amazing local 70 seater cinema, please visit the Bijou Cinema's website.

These are more photographs from the opening night. If you have any information about the building's history, please let our Editor, Patrick Trollope, know, via emailing him to:- News24@SouthportReporter.Com.

If you did not see our video of the opening, you can click here to see it in the previous edition.

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