Much-loved Sheffield cinema back in action as cafe

Abbeydale Picture House, which hosts temporary film nights and festivals, will open two days a week to serve food to visitors.

The news was announced at a film screening at the Abbeydale Road venue over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

The cinema will open every Friday and Saturday from 10am until 5pm to serve ‘delicious food and locally roasted coffee,’ with plans to open a bar serving alcohol in future.

A planning application was submitted to Sheffield Council in February for a replacement dance floor and new bar and kitchen facilities.

The work is part of a long-term plan to bring the cinema back into regular use.

The planning application says the venue’s current facilities ‘do not meet current standards in order to make it fit to hold a liquor licence and large events’.

Smaller events have relied on a temporary licence to serve alcohol.

The renovations will be in-keeping with the building’s Victorian heritage and little will be done to its structure.

The plans include refurbishing part of the main space inside, including replacing the original suspended floor, making the temporary bar permanent and installing a kitchen.

The Abbeydale Picture House was reopened as a cinema for the first time in 40 years back in July 2015 and has since screened a handful of sell-out shows.

More events will be held during the year, with a new programme of music and cinema screenings to be released soon.

Organisers are asking for donations from the public to go towards the preservation of the building.