A Rhyl Journal photo showing a demonstration protest outside the Prestatyn Scala cinema.
Rhiannon Hughes, chair of the Scala Trust, said the site was open and “looking forward to its sci-fi weekend” after a meeting was held on Monday.
Discussions are set to continue over sourcing extra funding and a campaign – Save Our Scala – to help the cinema raise £97,000, has been launched.
Fears over the future of the cinema surfaced last week after Denbighshire County Council said it would be looking to end the cinema’s yearly £41,000 grant in April.
It was later revealed the Scala was facing more immediate problems after it notified the council that it would be late with its November wages payment – putting the cinema three months in arrears.
A public meeting, scheduled for Friday, has been postponed and will be rearranged in a couple of weeks.
The Scala posted on its Facebook page: “We are in the position of being in negotiations and sourcing extra funding and so we have now taken the decision to cancel the Friday meeting.”
Mrs Hughes, said:
“Discussions over funding are ongoing. There is still a lot of work to do but our thanks go out to the many Scala customers and community members who are rallying around and supporting the work that we are doing.”
Cllr Huw Jones, Denbighshire’s cabinet lead member for leisure, said:
“The council has given a lifeline to the Board of Trustees many times. We met frequently with the company over two years to assist them. However we have asked time and time again for information as to how they were going to address their financial situation and the kind of reassurances we expected have not been forthcoming.”
“Despite all our efforts to support the Scala company, it appears to find itself in an unsustainable financial situation.”
Rebecca Maxwell, Corporate Director: Economic and Community Ambition said:
“The council simply cannot continue to put at risk large sums of money to underpin the Scala’s financial deficit.”
Source: Rhyl Journal 04.11.14
