Leaders pledge action after Electric Cinema closure

The Mayor of the West Midlands has said he will not stand by and see "the region's cultural sector decline" following the closure of Birmingham's iconic Electric Cinema.

The venue on Station Street, which first opened in 1909 is thought to be the oldest working cinema in the UK.

It closed it's doors yesterday (29 February) with no future listings on it's website. The Marwick family, which took over and reopened cinema in 2022 following the pandemic, have yet to comment.

Posting on X, Mayor Andy Street said: "Clearly, any potential loss of such an iconic heritage building is deeply concerning, and so we have asked the WMCA to urgently investigate the facts and any possible interventions."

He added: "We hope to share more concrete news on our actions soon, and we fully intend to put money where our mouths are".

An online petition calling for Station Street, where the Electric Cinema is located, to be preserved as a designated as a historic, cultural and civic asset had been signed by over 5,000 people by Friday afternoon.

It's understood the area is planned for redevelopment, although Birmingham City Council said there is no current planning application in relation to the site.

Ian Francis, runs the Flatpack Film Festival, which uses the Electric Cinema as one of it's event venues.

He told us: "It's a unique asset and I think people in this city and beyond appreciate that once it's gone, it's not coming back. So there will definitely be a campaign to protect it.

"The Electric is a really important place, one of the places that our audiences really loved going to. And more broadly, in a city of more than a million people, losing a couple of screens of independent film like this is a big blow."

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