No grand entrance for movie-goers

Lindy Laird | 17th March 2010

Moviegoers are unimpressed at having to walk through dark, graffiti lined, urine-soaked concrete stairwells to get to the cinema in Whangarei.

Several people have told the Northern Advocate they will not go to Skycity Cinema in James St until there is better access from the street.

The Auckland-based company's operations manager, Carmen Switzer, said the cinema, which did not own the building, had been hard hit by access problems due to renovations on the ground floor.

The company had suffered a financial impact from the slow demise and final closure of the foodhall downstairs and the ensuing entrance problems, Ms Switzer said.

"We're very aware it has been substandard for a while. The good thing is we are finally under way with a solution."

The building's owner, Rebel Investments, is  installing a separate entrance from James St to the cinema complex.

The bad news for movie-goers is it could be another eight weeks before the new entrance is finished.

In the meantime, a sign on the James St window points 50m down the street to a stairwell leading up to the Whangarei District Council carpark. A narrow corridor which used to access the cinemas through the food hall from John St has also been closed.

The only entrance to the cinemas is now directly off the carpark, once pedestrians find their way there.

"To be fair, that is where most customers go into the cinema from anyway. They drive into the carpark and walk in to the cinema from there," Ms Switzer said.

But a letter writer, who asked not to be named, told the Advocate he and his wife had difficulty finding the entrance off James St - "and when we did the state of cleanliness was disgusting."
 

A cinema staff member he complained to said staff had fielded a lot of complaints from the public, he said.

Neighbouring Kathmandu store worker Rachel Wellwood said staff were constantly dealing with requests from people coming off the street wanting to know how to get into the movie complex.
 

Rebel Investments principal Richard Langdon, who also owns the Rebel Surf store next door, was unavailable for comment.

The Whangarei District Council is taking complaints about the state of the carpark pedestrian access on the chin.

"These accessways are no-frills in nature because their purpose is primarily for access to and from the carpark and to provide clear emergency access from the cinema if needed," media relations adviser Ann Midson said. "Keeping them plain and serviceable also reduces the cost of maintenance, minimises the cost of vandal damage and makes them easier to clean, which reduces costs for ratepayers."

The areas were cleaned daily, she said.