Tom Parry
A SLICE of local history will be up for grabs when Sale Cinema begins its latest renovations this weekend.
The venue will be gutting its largest theatre, Cinema 3, on Sunday, and is offering its existing seats to the public free of charge.
Proprietor Val Hodges said the seating will be available to “anyone who wants some lovely free chairs”, or a bit of nostalgia.
By Ms Hodges’ own admission, the quality of the seats does vary – some are “just like brand-new” and have hardly been worn, while others are “very, very old” and require upholstering.
But she is not fussed as to how they are utilised by their new owners.
“We just want them to be able to be recycled, repurposed into something else,” she said.
“Whether someone’s got two chairs on the back verandah or four chairs on the back verandah or whatever, it’s fantastic that they’ve been used.”
It’s not the first time Sale Cinema has offered its old seating to the populace – a similar initiative was run three years earlier, before the refurbishment of Cinemas 1 and 2.
That scheme saw an “overwhelming” response from the community, with some seats collected by and donated to non-profit groups, and others turned into garden furniture.
Cinema 3’s current décor has been in place since Ms Hodges assumed ownership of Sale Cinema three decades ago.
The furniture has seen its fair share of cinematic events in that time, including the birth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the rise of computer-generated animation, nine Fast & Furious movies, all six Jurassic Park films, three reboots of the Batman franchise, two Star Wars trilogies and three Star Wars spin-offs.
Yet one of its most eventful occasions came during a busy Boxing Day screening of a Lord of the Rings film, one which saw a queue of cinemagoers extending from the foyer to The Paint Rig four doors down.
Photo: Tom Parry
It was a “really, really hot day”, according to Ms Hodges, which saw both air-conditioning units in Cinema 3 stop operating.
“The two of them weren’t working, and so that room was full of people who have body heat, as well as the heat from outside,” Ms Hodges recalled.
“It just got hotter and hotter, and halfway through the movie we closed the show, and we got everyone to go outside; we opened every door, every ventilation thing we could use to make a draught through the cinema, and we left that for about … 20 minutes, half an hour to cool down for a bit.
“It was a talking point of the town for ages – it was such a bizarre thing to happen!”
So, what changes are to be expected in the refurbished theatre?
“Cinema 3 will be quite similar to what it is now, except it will have lots of leather seats and more space between the rows,” Ms Hodges said, adding that the chairs will be wider than those currently installed.
There will also be new flat-floored accessibility areas for wheelchairs or parents with prams, similar to Cinema 1 and 2.
But according to Ms Hodges, the décor and colours will be “very similar” to what is there currently.
“So that’s a bit of nostalgia or history that will stay … I just think that one’s such a fantastic room that I don’t want to annihilate it,” she said.
This weekend will be the last opportunity for filmgoers to watch a screening in Cinema 3 prior to its facelift.
The final screening to utilise the “old” furniture will be John Wick: Chapter 4, occurring Saturday at 6.45pm.
Cinema 3’s renovations are expected to be complete by mid-May.
Anybody wishing to obtain the old seating is encouraged to reach Sale Cinema via the official Facebook page at facebook.com/SaleCinemas
