NEWPORT council leader Matthew Evans has welcomed news that work to transform the city’s former Odeon Cinema into a cinema museum is to start next month.

Cllr Evans said it was another “welcome boost for Newport”

which would bring clear benefits to the city.

He said: “There are many tourist attractions already in Newport, such as Tredegar House and the Transporter Bridge and once open, the building will enhance the list of places to visit.”

As reported last week, regeneration firm Newport Unlimited will provide £180,000 to get the project off the ground and make the dilapidated building on Clarence Place stable and watertight.

The Grade II listed cinema, which is one of Newport’s few surviving examples of art deco architecture, will eventually be refurbished and renovated to create Wales’ first cinema heritage attraction by the project’s developers Richard Hayward Properties and specialist cinematic company Kinetechnik Limited.

Work on the first phase is expected to start in January and be completed in May.

Plans for the project include facilities to house the largest archive cinema collection in the UK, education and resource facilities for schools, universities and the public, digital media and 3D projection, music and sound recording studios, a café and a gift shop.

Gareth Beer, chief executive of Newport Unlimited, said: “It is very exciting for Newport Unlimited to help fund such a dynamic and innovative project which will help to bring more visitors into Newport and provide an unusual and interesting educational resource for the growing student population.

"We hope this cinema museum project will help the city recognise its potential as a city with excellence in creative industries and digital technology.”

The cinema was designed by architects Harry Weedon and Arthur J Price and built in 1938.

It closed in May 1981 and was awarded listed status in 1999.