Wellington City Council has ended negotiations with Reading Cinemas on a proposed deal aimed at reopening the cinema complex on Courtenay Place.
Senior Council staff reached a position where they did not believe they would be able to reach the best possible outcomes for Wellingtonians and the decision was made this week to not pursue the proposal further.
So what now? If I remember, reading were talking the council into buying it and leasing it back to them, or something similar?
I just hope we end up with a better outcome, somehow - presumably it’s wholly left up to reading however? Not sure if that’s more likely without the council involved or not (yes, that’s a dig at our council, but also I imagine reading are just profit-seeking corporates if they own a cinema chain).
- I can’t see this ending well…
I always hated that building and felt like the last thing we needed was yet another cinema chain (then mid-city collapsed and that helped somewhat)
The big advantage to a big complex like Reading, is with the number of screens they have, you have a number of options for screening times, and can decide whether to get the one starting in ten minutes, or get lunch and get the screening happening in 45 minutes.
It’s a shame, it was a great idea, and would have brought a lot of people into the CBD who would hopefully spend money elsewhere.
Reading was so convenient when it was open.