AN iconic town centre cinema is gearing up to celebrate a momentous anniversary against all odds.
The future was uncertain for Rob Younger when he ‘took a gamble’ on Eldon Street’s Parkway Cinema after doubters claimed the building would ‘never be a cinema again’.
The co-owner and managing director has invested 19 years of his life into his business and he is set to celebrate the building’s 70th anniversary in style.
The building officially turns 70 on February 27 and Rob will attempt to turn back the clock to the same day in 1956.
On that historic day, police officers flooded Eldon Street holding back star-struck locals trying to catch a glimpse of the celebrity actors and actresses from ‘Lost’.
The deputy mayor of Barnsley, Coun Jo Newing, will help the cinema usher in the important anniversary, albeit in lieu of film stars.
Parkway is a true testament to Rob’s dedication and the loyalty of its customers who have fiercely fought to keep the Barnsley-owned business afloat in near impossible times.
When what used to be the Odeon cinema closed in 2005, Rob was working elsewhere but was devastated to discover the loss of the well-loved cinema.
“I was absolutely gutted that my hometown cinema, the first cinema I ever worked in, was closing.
“I said if it gets sold and stripped it’s going to be really difficult to reopen it and it did end up getting partially stripped.
“I’ve got a cutting from the Sheffield Star, and the statement said ‘the old Odeon will never be a cinema again’.
“That was late 2005 and by August 2007, it was a cinema again because we reopened it.
“I’m really, really proud of that.”
In recent years, Rob faced further difficulty when Cineworld opened, just a stone’s throw from Parkway.
He added: “It’s been interesting everyone thought we would die because of it and we haven’t.
“We’ve put shows on, like the ELO tribute, ELO Again, which is sold out this Friday.
“I think we’ve found our happy medium and our film programme is slightly different than we used to do.
“It didn’t help that our long-term landlord was going to sell it from under us.
“We had the choice to either close and go away or buy it.
“We bought the building and took a gamble.
“There’s no easy way around it it’s been difficult.
“I never got into this for money, it’s for the passion.
“We’ve reimagined what we do, we’re a community cinema and we’re very well supported by the community and we love it.
“We’re very proud to have kept the building alive 70 years later.”
