Plans to reopen former Stafford cinema as music venue

Aaron Bunning is leading the project to turn the former cinema into a music venue

A former cinema is set to reopen as a music venue by Easter, according to a man leading a project to resurrect the site.

The building on Newport Road, Stafford, has been out of use since Stafford Cinema announced its departure in November 2021.

A team led by Aaron Bunning has since begun to renovate it, saying they want to open one room by the end of March.

"It's been a dream of mine for a while," he said.

After the cinema's closure last year, the building's owner approached him about taking the plan forward, he said.

"There is still a lot of stuff to do, however there is a good team behind it, we all have experience in music venues, running events and also putting on bands and performing," he added.

The site was run as a cinema until 2021

The team has applied to the borough council for funding and has already installed a sound desk and undertaken building repairs.

Several music agents and comedians had already shown interest in the project and appearing at the venue, Mr Bunning said.

"We all want the same thing which is a live venue in Stafford," he explained.

While the cinema had three screens, Mr Bunning said the plan for now was to focus on a single room and then open with a capacity for 900 people.

The building opened as a cinema in 1936 and was taken on by Stafford Cinema in 2019 before its closure, with the operator at the time citing issues with the building and funds.