Covid in Scotland: Inverness arts venue to reopen cinemas
- Published
The largest arts venue in the Highlands will partially reopen later this week for the first time since March.
Eden Court on Inverness' riverside has been closed since Scotland went into lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
On Thursday, the venue will open its café and two cinemas.
It could have opened its cinemas in July but waited to allow time for new safety measures to be put in place and staff to return from furlough.
The layout inside the venue has been changed to provide more room for social distancing.
Eden Court said the building's air ventilation system had been programmed to pull in "100% fresh air", with no air being recirculated through the system.
Tenet and Les Misérables will be among the first films to be screened in the cinemas.
Venue bosses said the pandemic had taken its toll on its finances.
Eden Court's chief executive James Mackenzie-Blackman said: "To re-open our doors 226 days after we closed them feels like a huge moment for us.
"We do so with both excitement and nervousness about how successful our reopening will be, because the pandemic has devastated our cash position.
"The best way that folks can support us over the coming weeks would be to step-through our doors and work with us to make our re-opening the success it needs to be."
Last month, Eden Court postponed one of its most popular events due to public health concerns.
Ticket sales from its pantomimes represent a third of the venue's annual income.
But managers said the potential risk of Covid-19 to the performers, staff and audiences had forced them to postpone this year's panto, Cinderella.
The move will lose Eden Court £350,000 in revenue and affects the jobs of 14 performers.
The venue's pantomime last year, Beauty and the Beast, drew a record total audience of 36,000 people over 51 performances.
Cinderella has been postponed until next year.
- Published11 September 2020
- Published30 July 2020
