As part of plans to help transform the town centre, Blackpool Council has signed a 25 year lease with MMC Cinemas for a nine-screen, IMAX-ready Multimedia centre complex.

The first of its kind development in the UK fuses a flexible business, leisure and entertainment destination venue, destined to serve both Blackpool and the North West.

The development sees Tower Cinemas (Blackpool) Ltd, trading as MMC Cinemas, launch a unique Multimedia Cinema/Conferencing and Entertainment centre providing 9 state of the art digital screens including a giant IMAX-ready central screen within a 40,500 sq ft unit.

The 9-screen, 850 seat venue will include a PLF (Premium Large Format) screen, set to be the largest in the North West. Designs also include flexible seating to allow screens to double as conference venue spaces, designated incubator space for the region’s digital/media start-up businesses, and an e-sports café. A website on the new cinema development is live at www.mmccinemas.com

Work is expected to commence on the Tower Street site in March and be completed by Spring 2022. The multimedia cinema complex alone is set to create 30 full time jobs, and act as the catalyst for multimedia training, and business incubation.

Blackpool Council acquired the Houndshill Shopping Centre site for redevelopment for £47.6m in November 2019 as part of its long-term strategy to revitalise the town centre.

Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “We have always made it very clear that our acquisition of the Houndshill was the first step in revitalising Blackpool town centre by introducing high-quality leisure attractions to complement the existing retail offer.

“If the town centre is to prosper, we have to provide new reasons to attract residents and visitors. The signing of these three contracts paves the way for us to take a major step along that road.

“We are delighted that all parties are now on board and we can move forward to an early start on site date, bringing new jobs and opportunities.”

John Sullivan, founder of MMC Cinemas, comments, “Blackpool has an astonishing heritage as a leisure destination for the North West region and beyond, and this multi-media centre is set to re-cement that reputation. Its flexible design is geared to the needs of the town and wider Lancashire needs, offering not only a destination venue to experience the latest cinema releases, but is also flexible to enable conferences, space to encourage developing local business and much, much more. We are particularly excited about its ability for Blackpool to tap into the growing e-sports trend with dedicated gaming space. It’s a true privilege to be bringing this unique entertainment and business hub to the local area.”