WORK on converting Okehampton?s Market Hall into a two-screen cinema is progressing well with a Christmas opening looking likely, town councillors were informed this week at a meeting of the property committee. Town clerk Don Bent said the division had gone in to create two auditoria and the sound-proofing and seating was currently being put in. One auditorium will contain 140 seats and the other around 60 seats. Planning permission was granted to Merlin Cinemas last month for the scheme, which is costing in the region of £200,000, but it was not without controversay. A petition of 1,000 names was submitted to the borough council opposing the changes which would see the market hall cease as a market and sales venue. Town councillors have defended their decision, claiming that despite money being ploughed into the hall, it never thrived as a market venue. ?If it had been a vibrant place we would not have gone down this path,? said Cllr Christine Marsh this week. Mr Bent said good progress was being made with the conversion work: ?We are still on target for a Christmas opening.? He added that slight changes had been made to the seating arrangements because of fire regulations. ?We have reduced the number of seats in accordance with cinema regulations because we could not get permission to put a fire escape into the back of Red Lion Yard,? he said. ?This does, in fact, make for a more upmarket seating arrangement.? The cinema will be open every night with extra screenings at weekends and occasional matinees. Merlin Cinemas, which has other venues in Devon and Cornwall, aims to offer a broad range of film types from commercial family films to more art house pictures.
