All the details of The Palace Cinema open day in Devizes

The Palace Cinema in Devizes has been closed since July 2021 when a major refurbishment of the venue, which has stood on Market Place for over 100 years, was launched.

Owner Picturedrome Cinemas purchased the property in 2019 and has put over £1 million into restoring the cinema, in the hope of reopening it before the end of 2024.

Now the cinema will briefly open its doors to the public again during Devizes Heritage Open Day on Saturday, September 14.

READ MORE: Cinema 'to last for another 100 years' after £1m transformation

Visitors at the 2023 open day (Image: Trevor Porter)

Residents have not been inside the building since last year’s Heritage Open Day, when they were given a glimpse of the ongoing works.

This year’s edition of the event, which will see significant locations around the town open up to the public, will allow people to see the work that has taken place in the last 12 months.

The cinema will be open from noon until 4pma, pre-booking is not required and there will be a maximum of 30 people per tour.

Due to the ongoing works, visitors will not be able to access all areas of the site and no films will be shown.

Other sites running events as part of this year’s open day include The Masonic Hall, Devizes Town Lock-up, St John the Baptist Church, St James’ Church, and Wiltshire Museum.

The Palace was originally opened in 1912 and was enlarged to seat 900 people in the 1920s. In the 1970s it was bought by Zetters and converted into a bingo club and a 253-seat cinema.

SEE ALSO: Pictures show progress of two-year refurbishment to historic cinema

The Palace Cinema (Image: Trevor Porter)

Prior to being acquired by Picturedrome, the business was operated for some years by independent operator Angel Leisure.

Operations manager Spencer Clark previously said Picturedrome had been working hard to future-proof the building by reversing “50 years of decay”.

He said: “We’re very much focused on getting the cinema and theatre open as soon as possible and have spent excessive amounts of money on the building.

“It’s future-proofed for the town now and will still be there in another 100 years whereas before it wouldn’t have been.

“We’ve spent well over £1 million on the project and lost revenue as well, we need the cinema open for the town to bring some culture in, we want to invest in both the town and the people here.”