Redevelopment of cinema to maintain 'art deco charm'

Restoration work has begun on the Strand Arts Centre in east Belfast with the project expected to be completed by the summer of 2026.

The owners say the £6.5m project is aimed at preserving Northern Ireland's only art deco picture house and will deliver "a new home for the arts" in the area.

This year is the venue's 90th anniversary, having been built during what some call the golden age for Belfast cinema in the 1930s.

"It's going to enable the only surviving example of an art décor picture house in Northern Ireland to be preserved," said Mimi Turtle, chief executive of Strand Arts Centre.

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