The Arc Cinema in Hucknall celebrates one year since it first opened, today

The Arc Cinema in Hucknall is today celebrating one year since it first opened its doors to paying customers.

After originally intending to open in March 2020, the cinema was forced to postpone due to the Coronavirus pandemic and consequent lockdown.

Speaking exclusively to Nub News, Mark Gallagher, the manager of the cinema said: "Because everything closed and everything shut down, even if by some weird loophole we were able to remain open, there was no content because all the films were being pulled. Although it was absolutely devastating, in a way I'm glad that we didn't open and then have to close so for us our grand opening was just delayed."

The cinema was forced to wait almost four months, before it could officially open for the first time and due to the restrictions in place, such as social distancing, it was a more low-key start than originally planned. Despite this, when the time came, they found unwavering support from the people of Hucknall.

"When we did finally open on July 4th the reception we got from the town was just so overwhelming, it was amazing. We were just full from day one with families and couples., they were coming to see films that had previously been released because we didn't have any new content but people were just desperate to come and see and support. It made up for those months of not being open.

"It genuinely was overwhelming. People were walking up our ramp, into where we served the popcorn and you could see their eyes wide, people who'd been to the cinema before when it used to be a cinema all those years ago, just so amazed at the transformation. They kept coming back, we had regulars, we had families they were coming in week in week out, it was just amazing."

However, whilst things started positively, there was more disappointment when the government issued a second lockdown in November which meant The Arc were forced to close their doors once again. However, they did have one more triumph before this enforced closure.

"Halloween was Saturday 31st October, and we had a Halloween weekend so we put loads of classic horror films on the Saturday and the Sunday. When we closed on the Sunday night which was the 1st November, we did not reopen until May 17th.

"I think the lockdown actually kicked in on the Thursday but we just shut on that Sunday, we didn't see the point in opening Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

"What's really good is that Halloween weekend was actually one of our busiest weekends since we opened. We had sold out screenings of The Lost Boys, we had to put extra screenings on and it was just brilliant, it was one of the best weekends ever so it was nice to go out on that high."

It was six long months before the cinema would reopen but that didn't stop them from continuing to engage with the local community. Mr Gallagher ran a weekly film quiz on Youtube which was free to play and was very well received.

They then sold gift cards in mid-December outside the cinema so that people could buy Christmas presents for their loved ones. Again, this proved a popular move, and since the cinema reopened a number of customers have made use of their gift cards despite the number of months that have passed since they were purchased.

When the government revealed their roadmap to get the country out of lockdown, the reopening of cinemas was included as part of the penultimate stage of restrictions being eased. This meant May 17th was the key date; over six months since the cinema had last been opened.

"Finally being able to open all the staff were just so excited, I was excited, and customers likewise with new content this time, this was something we weren't used to, we opened with brand new films.

"What's funny is that I think the first film that was going to be on (when the cinema was originally due to open in March 2020) was actually Peter Rabbit 2 so it's brilliant that when we did reopen this time on May 17th we opened for Peter Rabbit 2. It's nice that it was that film to be honest with you."

Since then, the cinema has seen a steady return of customers but the anxiety people have about returning to their pre-Covid routines is still obvious.

When asked about what he would say to film lovers still worried about returning to the cinema, Mr Gallagher said: "First of all, it's worth me saying that I respect people's decisions not to come back out, that's up to them and that's absolutely fine, it has been a very scary time, hundreds of thousands of people have died.

"All I will say is we are one of the safest industries. Cinemas not just us, they're all air conditioned with state-of-the-art air conditioning, we can up the percentage of fresh air input so when you're sat watching a film the air that you're breathing is fresh air from outside, it's extracted.

"Everybody's sat in the same direction, so no one's breathing into each other. Everything is cleaned and sanitised in between the films. We've got social distancing throughout the building all the usual measures are put in place, staff are wearing face masks and sanitising every five minutes. And it's worth noting nationally to date there hasn't been a case of Covid traced back to a cinema. That's obviously really important.

"And you're all spaced out by two seats which is done automatically thanks to our boffins at the booking system that we use, so when you make a booking, automatically when you pay for your tickets, you will be two seats apart from the next person."

Whilst it hasn't been a conventional first year for the cinema, there have been some really positive moments and the support they have felt from the Hucknall community has played a big part in that.

Due to the current climate there aren't any special plans in place to mark the anniversary of the opening just yet. However, once the social restrictions are lifted, The Arc Cinema do hope to be able to do "something big" to mark one of the latest films hitting their screens for the first time.