Longridge Palace Cinema set to close following Covid hardships

A cinema, theatre and community hub has officially closed its doors because of the effects of the pandemic.

Palace Cinema in Longridge is set to be sold due to financial pressures caused by Covid-19.

The community organisation has been running for four years and is popular with locals and people from further afield because of its nostalgic look and feel.

Manager Lara Hewitt said: “Thank you to all of you who have supported The Palace and myself over these past four years.

“I’m very aware that some of you have also donated to help reopen The Palace; any monies not requested as a refund will be diverted to other Longridge based community activities.

“It was a brief but wonderful time I had with The Palace and the people of Longridge. I’m including some photos of some of the people who have made this time such a bright and colourful chapter of Longridge and my life.

“I will miss it very much but I know that not everything has to last forever to matter, and this mattered.”

Earlier this year, Lara hoped that the cinema would become a Community Interest Company and up and running by September however unfortunately this has not been the case.

Sadly, the company who own the cinema, Parkwood, have decided to sell the cinema to try and rectify financial burdens.

The cinema was bought by Lara’s late father Tony who ran Parkwood more than three and a half years ago.

It is well known as being one of the regions oldest cinemas and in its recent years, it has been used as a theatre, cinema and events hub for the people of Longridge.

They hosted live music, comedy nights and showed modern and older movies, attracting a wide audience.

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