Film Hub Midlands member Phoenix Cinema have received confirmation that Arts Council England will invest £4 million of National Lottery money towards Phoenix 2020 - its plans to expand its current building and become a four screen independent cinema by 2020.
The plans will see a 1,200 square metre extension added to the existing building. This will make space for two further cinema screens; a larger and more prominent digital art gallery with an atrium; a bigger café bar; and new spaces for making and learning.
Arts Council’s investment brings Phoenix closer to the £7 million it requires to complete the full project by the end of 2020. Planning permission for the development has been awarded and Phoenix expects to have 83% of the funding in place by the end of April. The charity is working hard to raise at least £500,000 more in the coming months to enable building to start later this year.
John Rance, Chief Executive of Phoenix said: “This is a great opportunity for us to put digital art and film in more accessible and visible spaces for exhibition, learning and creativity. With Arts Council’s generous support we have taken a major step towards realising our ambition to reach out to a much wider and diverse population in and around Leicester.
We are close to reaching our fundraising target and would welcome all the support we can get to help us reach the finish line.
