Staff and volunteers from Helensburgh’s Tower Cinema are celebrating the completion of the venue’s third screen after a three-year-long “labour of love”.

The Tower Digital Arts Centre's third room - dubbed ‘SCREEN3’ - was officially completed on Friday, July 21.

With 20 seats consisting of sofas and armchairs the room is small and intimate with a “comfy vibe” and will be used to show classic films and stream theatre productions.

The screen will also be available to be rented out where people can choose which film they would like to watch for a one-of-a-kind party experience.

Staff member Donna Hicks said: “We’ve had a vision of SCREEN3 for quite a long time but for various reasons including funding it’s taken longer than we’d anticipated.

“It’s been a real labour of love by volunteers, who’ve put the place together and it just looks phenomenal.

“It came to a close during lock down and we didn’t do any work on it during that time as we were focused on getting the rest of the place open but over the last year there’s been a real vision and drive to get the place up to scratch and open.

“The projector in that room won’t be showing new release films – it’s not high spec enough for that – but it will be showing live streams of things like National Theatre productions, and we’ll also be able to show classics.

“It’s only got 20 seats, it’s all sofas and armchairs, and it’s just got a really lovely, comfy vibe about it.

“We’re also promoting private hires. It’s a perfect location for a birthday party if you wanted to get a group of friends together and watch a film and we have our bar licence now so we’re able to offer a full package.

“There are cinemas that let you hire screens further afield in the likes of Glasgow but there really is nothing like that in this area – it really is unique.”

Helensburgh Advertiser: Another look at the roomAnother look at the room (Image: Newsquest)

After being closed for maintenance, Donna also announced that ‘SCREEN1’ is almost ready to be reopened.

When it is available to the public the venue aims to use the space not just for screenings but for live performances and concerts.

She added: “SCREEN1 that’s been closed for some time due to some essential maintenance that’s been done is working towards reopening.

“We’re not a million miles away from opening though we’ve got some upgrading to get done.

“We’re already talking to band promoters about using that space more for events.

“We really sense that there is a lot of support in the community, and we just want that to continue - we’re very optimistic about the future.”

Check out the Tower Cinema's screenings here: www.helensburghboxoffice.com/now-showing.