City gets all Animate-d at leisure scheme complex launch

City council leader Matthew Brown is in no doubt. The opening of the new £45m Animate cinema and leisure complex is proof the city has finally cast off the shadow of the failed Tithebarn regeneration scheme.

Animate, many years in the making, has been built on the former indoor market and car park site and is fully owned by the city council.

Speaking at the official opening of Animate by Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, Councillor Brown said lessons had been learned
from Tithebarn and a very different approach was now being taken to deliver regeneration.

The collapse of the £700m Tithebarn redevelopment plan in 2011 was seen at the time as a catastrophic blow to Preston’s fortunes.

Tithebarn, which would have seen widescale shopping and leisure facilities and a new bus station built in the city centre, was abandoned
after department store John Lewis pulled out saying it was no longer financially viable.

The bombshell announcement left the city bruised and battered and facing an uncertain future. But what has risen from the ashes of the
failed project is a complete rethink of Preston’s regeneration strategy.

Animate is playing a massive part in that. The flagship scheme is one of six major projects in Preston’s Harris Quarter Towns Fund Investment Programme, a £200m programme, including £20.9m of funding by the government to support several regeneration projects.

The leisure scheme supports the council’s commitment to ‘Community Wealth Building’, which it describes as “a fair, inclusive and ethical approach to fostering sustainable economic development and prosperity for all in Preston”.

Measures to deliver that include using locally based businesses and the creation of approximately 300 full and part-time jobs when the complex is fully open.

Pointing out the involvement of “very large corporate developers” in Tithebarn who were “not based in the city”, Coun Brown said: “This is a very different way of doing regeneration, a way in which we can all benefit.

“We are very confident it is going to be a success. As a city authority we have put our money where our mouth is and invested in our community to benefit people.”

He added: “We don’t want to have corporations running the show, we want to do it inclusively.

“It is going to have huge benefits, it is not just about jobs and money, it is about how people feel in the city centre.”

Hundreds of people came to see Animate opened by Preston legend Nick Park – who also unveiled a new four-foot-high statue of one of
his animated characters, ‘Feathers McGraw’.

The Oscar-winning film-maker spoke of his pride in being from the city and added: “It’s so good to have a cinema in the city centre. It makes
the community feel important. It is for us to enjoy and if it inspires people that is great.”

Animate features The Arc Cinema with eight screens, 16-lane Hollywood Bowl bowling alley with gaming zone, public realm, a socialising unit and 164-space basement car park.

It will also be home to restaurant brands Ask Italian, Cosmo, Taco Bell, Argento Lounge and a variety of street food outlets, and a cocktail bar in Mad Giant Food Hall, run by Northern Lights Group.

The scheme was delivered by Maple Grove Developments (MGD), part of Preston-based contractor Eric Wright Group, on behalf of Preston City Council. Commercial property agents Sanderson Weatherall are the estate managers.