March 2009:
We're one step closer to major Lottery funding

The Curzon Cinema is celebrating the first round pass of its bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

This announcement gives the Curzon Cinema the green-light to develop its project, The Curzon Clevedon: conserving and sharing the living history of cinema, film and projection, which will combine the most urgent protection needs of the building with the refurbishment of key interior areas and improved presentation and interpretation. This will enhance public access, experience and understanding of the cinema building and the Curzon Collection of Heritage Cinema Equipment, that together demonstrate the living history of cinema from the early 20th century to the present.

While this does not guarantee that the £400,000 project will be fully funded, it means the historic cinema has been awarded £31,700 to help develop a more detailed bid for second phase of the awards process.

Hilary Neal, Chair of the Curzon Board, said “In a difficult economic climate, when competition for funding is tougher than ever, we are delighted that the HLF has recognised the community and historic value of the Curzon. We look forward to working with the HLF to further develop our plans for stage 2 of the application process.”