Question 1

What’s the end goal of the Broadway?

Accepted Answer

We are going to be a fantastic independent cinema, a venue for live music, theatre, comedy, and anything else the Broadway stage can support. We will have a vibrant foyer area and other flexible spaces in the building for the community to use and enjoy. We will be like a ‘living room for the town’: a high-quality indoor space everyone in Prestwick, and beyond, can enjoy.

Question 2

When will the Broadway be open?

Accepted Answer

A very good question! At this stage it is all about the funding. If we had all the funds in our bank account tomorrow to complete the entire restoration, it would likely be a 24 to 36 month construction project. Unfortunately, while we have terrific momentum with funding, we don’t yet have all the money in our account… by some distance! The Broadway team have to apply for it, fundraise, and earn it. That takes time. The Broadway is a big building and there is ‘a lot’ of work to be done. Before we get to the point of a full restoration, we are planning to partially re-open later this summer.

Question 3

How much will it cost?

Accepted Answer

Another very good question. We have not had the finalised scheme drawn up, but in 2018 we had a quantity survey conducted which indicated a value of approximately £3.6m to reinstate the building back to a bare shell. Post-Covid that has likely doubled. A real ‘finger in the air’ price from our architect, for a scheme involving a revised foyer and additional screens in the car park, is in the region of £10m. It sounds a lot in one go but is actually well within the funding envelope available to us. These kinds of amounts have been awarded to other similar projects. In practice we will be tackling this in bite-sized chunks and working with our architects on ways to re-open parts of the building for much smaller sums and more quickly.

Question 4

Will you open in stages?

Accepted Answer

It all depends on funding. We are planning to partially re-open this Autumn 2025 so people can access the foyer and auditorium for tours, a pop-up museum, and special events. We are hard at work on major funding bids to re-roof the building and to keep expanding what we can offer to
the community. The more funding we can apply for, the more revenue we can earn, the more donations, and the more memberships; the quicker we can re-open fully.

Question 5

Will it be accessible?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Accessibility and inclusion are core values. The future Broadway will have easy access from the pavement into every part of the ground floor. There will eventually be a lift so everyone can enjoy the balcony and upstairs. We will also be the only Main Street in Ayrshire with a Changing Places Toilet. The Broadway is for everyone. Think of it like a ‘living room for the town’.

Question 6

How many screens will you have?

Accepted Answer

Twenty four. Only joking, we will have at least two, including the main auditorium, but we have room for – and would like – three. This is a key part of the business plan. We need this flexibility to bring big popular films to Prestwick without tying up a single screen for long periods of time. Flexibility is key.

Question 7

Will it be just films?

Accepted Answer

What sort of films would you like us to show? This is the great thing about neighbourhood cinemas: we can tailor the programme very closely to what our community would like. Other successful venues show a mixture of family films, blockbusters, classics, and independent films. Other venues like ours have capacity audiences and queues down the street for things their community love to see.

Question 8

Will there be a café?

Accepted Answer

There are plenty of fantastic cafés and restaurants already on Main Street, so we are not looking to duplicate that. We are a cinema and venue. As a place of entertainment we will, of course, sell concessions, drinks, refreshments, snacks etc. to our visitors. Research shows that, on average, every customer who visits the Broadway will spend £12 in and around the venue. Cinema is a complimentary business to what already exists in the vicinity. When fully open, venues like the Broadway will attract anywhere up to and beyond 75,000 visitors per year, massively boosting footfall on Main Street. We want to benefit our community in the widest sense, and that includes our local economy and business community. Other towns are crying out for a cinema for precisely these reasons. We are incredibly lucky – as a town – to own this building and to be able to develop it in this way.

Question 9

Aren't you now worried the Astoria has opened in Ayr?

Accepted Answer

Not at all! We are delighted! All our business planning assumed not only would the Astoria be open, but so would a multiplex in the Kyle Centre, Ayr. South Ayrshire is one of the most under-served regions for cinema in the UK so the more people who get into the cinema-going habit the better. The Astoria had 12,000 customers in its opening two weeks and has been a huge success. There is a big appetite for cinema locally. The Astoria is not competition, it is validation. This is the perfect place to re-open a facility like the Broadway.

Question 10

Do you offer corporate sponsorship?

Accepted Answer

Yes we do… speak to Alex or Kyle! Contact Kyle in the first instance.

Question 11

Can the community help and get involved?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. We need the community to get involved more than ever before. It’s your cinema. You can become a member, register as a volunteer, or donate to our project right here on the website!

Question 12

Can I come inside and have a look?

Accepted Answer

‘Almost!’ We are working incredibly hard behind the scenes to partially re-open later this summer so people can see our wonderful auditorium, go on tours, and visit a new pop-up museum.

Question 13

When will building work start?

Accepted Answer

It already has! As part of our successful bid to the Scottish Land Fund we received £50,000 to undertake further essential maintenance. We have cleared the building of about 15 tons of accumulated rubbish, we have removed the squash courts to reveal the auditorium, we have undertaken patch repairs to the roof, removed asbestos, and made lots of improvements to security and fire safety. We also want to improve the streetscape and tidy up our frontage. Now the Broadway belongs to the community it will be stabilised, nurtured, made safe, and cared for.

Question 14

Who actually owns the Broadway?

Accepted Answer

You do: the community. Friends of the Broadway Prestwick are a charity whose purpose is to own and operate the Broadway for the benefit of Prestwick and beyond. If you become a member you can vote in our AGMs and have a voice in how the project develops. We are constitutionally obliged to listen to our community and deliver what you want.

Question 15

How much did it cost to buy?

Accepted Answer

The Broadway’s asking price was £325,000 but the owners, Buzzworks, reduced this to £225,000. 95% of the purchase price came from the Scottish Land Fund, which administers National Lottery money, and the remaining 5% from South Ayrshire Council. It cost Friends of the Broadway £21,000 in architects and professional services fees in order to make the application, which was earned through film shows and other fund raising. It was a huge amount of work performed entirely by the volunteer Board of Trustees.

Question 16

I thought you were going to demolish the auditorium?

Accepted Answer

No!! That was a very old set of plans. On the contrary, the community have spoken very clearly: they want to preserve the soul of the Broadway, and the auditorium stays! The auditorium is structurally sound, indeed, it is over engineered. We discovered this via work conducted by structural engineering students from Heriot-Watt University and confirmed by professionals. Our biggest asset is in fact our beautiful, flexible, adaptable, evocative, comfortable auditorium and it is coming back!!

Question 17

What is the significance of the camels?

Accepted Answer

The Broadway has six camel air vents on its auditorium ceiling! It was the choice of our architect, Alister Gladstone MacDonald, and it was purely for the exoticism of the era. To make the Broadway feel like another world, and transport people to other cultures. They're still in perfect condition and will be fully restored!

FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS

Find the answers to your questions!

Here you can learn even more about our project in our FAQs section.

Our team have answered our most frequently asked questions that you too may be wondering. If you do have any further questions that aren't covered on this page, you can contact us directly here!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Find the answers to your questions! Here you can learn even more about our project in our FAQs section. Our team have answered our most frequently asked questions that you too may be wondering. If you do have any further questions that aren't covered on this page, you can contact us directly here!

FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS