Following the Plaza Cinema’s recent announcement stating that they will not be reopening their Dunmail Park based cinema after Covid-19 restrictions ease, we wanted to take some time out to celebrate the Plaza and what it has meant to us all.
While we are excited for the Plaza Cinema to reopen elsewhere in Workington, we wanted to express our support and passion for keeping local independent cinema alive and give the Plaza some love while they relocate after 20 years of service based at Dunmail Park.
Over the years, the Plaza has been a place for friends, couples, awkward teenage romances, and families to come together to enjoy a variety of films from old classics to the latest blockbusters. Going to the Plaza Cinema has been a pastime that so many of us have taken for granted and we’re truly going to miss getting hotdogs, putting way too much sauce on them, dropping our popcorn by accident, and buying ice cream in the middle of a long film while we wait for them to reopen.
Aside from our own memories, we have to give endless credit to the Plaza team for working so hard to create an excellent cinema experience. The staff were always so kind, friendly, chatty, and professional and we cannot thank them enough for everything they have done for us while we’ve enjoyed countless movies over the years.
For many of us, the Plaza has been a huge part of our childhoods, with birthdays and weekend trips spent enjoying a movie we’d desperately wanted to see with friends. Going to the Plaza felt like a rite of passage. A chance to finally spread your wings as a teen and take a bus or get dropped off to spend an evening on your own with some friends. The movie displays and funky carpets always perfectly set the mood for an evening of entertainment. We are truly grateful for the memories that the Plaza has left us with.
We thank the Plaza for all the opening nights, the special one-off showings, the autism-friendly screenings, the sing-a-longs, parties, and times where we might have been the only person (or group of people) in the cinema. The Plaza at Dunmail will remain a beloved memory and we cannot wait to see them return at a new location.
We asked Hollr readers what their favourite memory of the Plaza at Dunmail Park was, and today, we want to share some of their replies.
“Watching the 50th anniversary of Doctor who when I was 11 and dressing up as Matt Smith and getting compliments from the staff.”
“Just me and my mum being cinema buddies and always going together.”
“Refillable popcorn!”
“When they did hot nacho cheese over nachos and the cheese was from a dispenser, so good!”
“Going to see the latest Marvel films with my Dad!”
“Sneaking Asda sweets in.”
“Going on my first ever date there.”
We want to encourage all our readers to follow the Plaza on social media and keep up with their newsletter to remain up-to-date with the latest news on the plaza’s reopening.