Plans to demolish and re-develop The Point in Milton Keynes have taken a step forward this week, with a reserved matters planning application being submitted to Milton Keynes Council.
The application, which covers the detail of attributes like the appearance, means of access and landscaping for the site, follows an approval of the outline planning application for the development back in 2015.
Developers Hammerson want to create almost 20,000sq feet of retail, food/drink and leisure facilities by demolishing the existing iconic red 'point' as well as the associated cinema 'box' which sits behind it.
The exact split between the different components of the site is not yet confirmed, but it has been confirmed that the new development will sit across three levels in total.
It is not yet known when a decision by Milton Keynes Council will be taken on the reserved matters application.
The ODEON cinema at the location closed three years ago following the opening of a new location at the MK1 Shopping Park. Since the closure, only a small number of tenants remain at the site including Gala Bingo.
Cllr Paul Williams, Milton Keynes Labour Ward Councillor for Central Milton Keynes, tweeted in response to the plans: "Just received notification of a reserved matters planning application for The Point. Will be a sad day if and when The Point is finally demolished. Have many happy childhood memories of the place."
Meanwhile, in December, it was revealed that intu Milton Keynes was one of a number of sites which had been purchased by Hammerson. It does not appear that the purchase of the adjacent site has had any impact to the proposed development plans for either site.
The plans for intu Milton Keynes included an extended shopping area and a boutique cinema.
One City Centre resident told MKFM: "Hopefully they will reopen the Odeon cinema instead of building a new one on the Intu site. Cinema has a long history in Milton Keynes of being at The Point."
History of The Point
In the 1980s, cinema audiences were in decline nationally, due among other reasons to high ticket prices, TV channels and video recorders. Smaller cinemas were closing down as they were no longer economic to operate.
The Point opened in 1985 and included a 10-screen multiplex cinema, the UK's first multiplex. The first company to run the cinema was AMC Theatres in conjunction with Milton Keynes Entertainment Corporation (MKEC).
The venue was an instant success and its opening caused, at least partially, the closure of the traditional cinemas in Bletchley and Newport Pagnell.
In 1991, it hosted a royal première of Harrison Ford's Presumed Innocent and was attended by Sarah, Duchess of York.
The pyramid section of the Point on opening housed The Brasserie, The Croc Bar, a games arcade and a nightclub, as well as a Bingo hall (Gala Bingo) in the basement. There was a small newsagents outside the main entrance.
In 1995, the owners of The Point refurbished the building and added a pizza restaurant (Deep Pan Pizza, later The Fresh Pizza Company), a health club and a bar/nightclub (Oasis, later Nexus).
The opening of Xscape in 2000 was to mark the beginning of the decline of The Point's fortunes. Xscape featured a more lucrative, state-of-the-art 16 screen multiplex, operated by Cineworld.
With the two cinemas virtually in close proximity to one another, it soon became apparent that The Point just couldn't compete. Xscape quickly took the vast majority of The Point's cinemagoers, and in 2003, UCI abruptly left Milton Keynes, deciding to rent out the cinema part of the building in order to continue to honour its lease with the complex's owners.
The cinema was rented out to the easyGroup, renaming the cinema as easyCinema.com. The ticket pricing was based on the EasyJet model with low headline prices (from 20p) for early bookers, then increasing according to demand. The foyer's popcorn, drinks and sweet stands were removed, replacing them with a vast empty space.
Visitors were encouraged to bring their own food. It showed films that had just recently finished their prime location runs and it did not rely on fixed showtimes. The business plan assumed that the operators could negotiate a fixed price for films (rather than a percentage per ticket sold), but the studios refused to negotiate on this basis.
Later ventures within the area included an easyInternetCafe and an easyPizza pick up point. The cinema and business model was unsuccessful, in May 2006 the lease was not renewed and the company handed back the cinema to UCI which by then was owned by Terra Firma who also owned Odeon Cinemas and was renamed Odeon as were all UCI cinemas not closed or sold off .
United Cinemas International or UCI was now owned by AMC Cinemas along with Odeon Cinemas with the UCI brand being dropped by Terrafirma in favour of the longer established Odeon brand. In May 2006, the site was refurbished and reopened as an Odeon Cinema. Despite the high-profile presence of Odeon, this couldn't halt the continuing decline of visitors.
In 2007, both the pizza restaurant and nightclub closed due to a lack of business. These remained empty for many years, before becoming a YMCA funded cafe and a Connexions careers office respectively.
By 2009, the illuminated lights on the pyramid no longer lit up at night, signalling how much of a less importance it had become in recent times.
In 2012, the Point's owners Hammerson, launched proposed plans to restructure the building as a new shopping and leisure complex, and asked for feedback from public in an open consultation. The plans were largely protested by some, given the building's history. An application to give the building listed grade II status was rejected.
In 2013, Odeon announced plans to relocate to a new, 11-screen complex, complete with MK's first IMAX screen, in Denbigh, directly next to Stadium mk, in a joint partnership with Milton Keynes Dons.
The Point's cinema closed for the final time on 26 February 2015, nearly 30 years since its opening. The last ever film to be shown in the cinema was Kingsman: The Secret Service. Odeon's new cinema, officially known as 'Odeon Milton Keynes Stadium', opened for business the next day.
