New ten-screen Athlone cinema gets green light
A 'luxury' expansion and redevelopment of Athlone's IMC Cinema is on the cards again after the project was granted planning permission by Westmeath County Council on Thursday last.
Permission to completely revamp the 27-year-old entertainment venue at the Golden Island Shopping Centre had been sought in November by Cinema Properties Ltd.
The applicant outlined plans to expand the cinema from six screens to ten, which would increase its footprint at the shopping centre and would result in the reconfiguration of some of the existing car parking arrangements there.
The planning application also sought the addition of a new restaurant unit alongside the extended cinema building.
In its decision last week, Westmeath County Council planners approved the development, subject to ten conditions. The conditions included that the developer must pay a development contribution to the local authority of €34,294.
Another condition was that the opening hours of the planned new restaurant unit must be agreed with the council in advance.
The planning application on behalf of the operators of the Athlone IMC Cinema stated that the redevelopment project would involve a "significant investment" on its part and, upon completion, would generate jobs for an additional ten members of staff.
* For more details, see next week's Westmeath Independent