Plans submitted to transform Hollywood Cinema on Great Yarmouth seafront

PUBLISHED: 12:00 07 March 2017 | UPDATED: 15:30 07 March 2017

The Hollywood Cinema on Great Yarmouth seafront could be set for a makeover. Photo: The Hippodrome

Archant

Ambitious plans to rejuvenate a seafront cinema have been submitted in Great Yarmouth.

Great Yarmouth's Royal Aquarium in 1951.

The old Royal Aquarium, now known as the Hollywood Cinema, is set to be transformed after plans were submitted by Peter Jay, who also owns The Hippodrome.

The proposals include a new glass-clad restaurant at the front, a new bar and terrace areas overlooking the sea on the first floor, a major upgrading the original five screen cinema and renovation of the exterior brickwork.

The new restaurant will be housed in a modern glass extension and the front which developers hope will enhance the front of the 1896 building.

Owner Peter Jay said the scheme will put the building back in its rightful place as one of the “jewels in the crown of the East Coast, if not the whole country.”

The Royal Aquarium in Marine Parade, Great Yarmouth, opened in 1914 originally as an aquarium and then a 2,000 seat theatre. It became a full time cinema in 1931-4. It is now the Hollywood.

He added: “It has the best position, a dominating role in the whole Great Yarmouth Seafront landscape and this plan will take it to new heights in its premier position of the Great British seaside.

“All in all this will transform the look of the end, and focal point, of the seafront and take us into the modern era whilst conserving the look of the past.”

It is envisioned that the scheme will be self-funded by the owners and tenants and Mr Jay said he is looking for ‘national and international’ partners for the restaurant and bar areas.

A photo of the Hollywood Cinema now as it currently looks. Photo: Anthony Carroll

Plans

• On the first floor the bar will feature Mr Jay’s personal collection of antique original film posters and a terrace looking down the Golden Mile and a glassed-in terrace opposite the bowling green with sea views. This area will be decorated with large works by local artist’s in the terrace’s archways.

• A new entrance foyer and ‘luxury’ toilets will be built on the ground floor for customers of cinema on the sea-facing side of the building.

• The cinema will also have a major upgrade.

• The whole building will be cleaned and renovated revealing the sandy coloured bricks and ornate carved stone features and columns will be accentuated for all to see.

• At night the whole front will have an architectural lighting scheme, similar to the one used at the Houses of Parliament.

• At the front a large TV screen will display what is going on inside the building.