Crosby Plaza Cinema: Inside the historic gem at the heart of the Crosby community

The cinema first opened on September 2, 1939, and immediately closed again that same day due to regulations introduced by the outbreak of war. Following the reopening two weeks later, the cinema offered full film programmes and, for many years, live variety entertainment. In 1996, when its owners wanted to offer the site for redevelopment, the community rallied around to save it.

Through the hard work and dedication of the community and a wealth of volunteer support, the cinema was reopened on the July 18, 1997, with a showing of Jurassic Park The Lost World. In January 2000, the charity was able to purchase the building itself.

Cinema Manager Martin Fol has been at the Plaza for 26 years. Starting off as a volunteer, he became the cinema manager in 2011. He told LiverpoolWorld: "You just look around when you walk in, and it just gets to you. You get that feeling of being in a proper cinema and the public are amazing that live around here who support us."

Martin said almost everyone who comes in has fond memories of the cinema from their childhoods, himself included, but keeping the lights on hasn't always been easy. He explained: "You have your ups and downs; during Covid, it was difficult. We've still not recovered from Covid. In 2010, the heating collapsed and that's when we thought we were going to go under but we didn't and we're still here now."

Organ music was once a regular feature at cinemas; however, after it fell out of popularity, the cinema had its organ removed in the 1970s. They've now installed a new organ, but it's not quite in working order yet, with Martin telling us: "We've got the organ, which is a Wurlitzer organ. It did work the other week for the first time in four years. (The refurbishment) seems like something that is never going to end. It's seen five prime ministers and it still hasn't worked."

Working organ or not, Crosby’s Plaza Cinema truly is a community gem, showing mainstream, foreign language and cult films and bringing people together through a shared love of the big screen.

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