The new manager of Helensburgh’s cinema says he hopes to give the town back its “living room” after reopening the venue.

Movie-goers returned to The Tower Digital Arts Centre on Friday (July 8) as regular screenings restarted for the first time since the pandemic began.

Showings of the new Elvis biopic and Top Gun Maverick were held over the weekend, with many more releases lined-up in the coming weeks and months.

After finally making its long-awaited return, the cinema’s new manager Fernando Pitães, who took over in June, is now calling on residents to make the most of having such a venue on their doorstep.

He said: “Giving back this venue to the community is the reason I accepted this challenge.

“I want to make sure it reopens as the living room of Helensburgh. I want people to be able to come see a good movie, a live performance, live streams, theatre, and all these kind of things.

“I encourage people to come visit to keep the arts here in Helensburgh, so that they don’t need to travel out of their communities.

“I want them to have access to the same things that Glasgow has; the same movies, the same ballet, the same opera – they can have it here.

“They will have the bar and the future restaurant we are building, where they can have not only an arts centre, but a community centre too.”

While the town’s residents have been waiting patiently for The Tower’s box office to reopen, a team of volunteers have been working hard behind the scenes to get the cinema ready to welcome visitors again.

Fernando thanked them for their efforts, and for also welcoming him into their “family”.

He added: “All the work that’s been done is thanks to volunteers who have been involved at The Tower.

“They continue to look after the building and the garden, by painting and refurbishing, and they’ve been doing this since the lockdown.

“They are super excited to be back – they were counting the hours to reopening.

“It’s such an important venue for Helensburgh that needed to come back to the public.”

Tickets are on sale for upcoming screenings of Elvis and Top Gun Maverick, with more films coming to the cinema soon.

This weekend will also see showings of Downton Abbey: A New Era, and Pixar’s sci-fi action-adventure, Lightyear.

Bookings are also open for screenings of Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer, on July 21, as well as Andre Rieu’s Maastricht concert on August 27 and 28.

To book tickets or for more information, visit helensburghboxoffice.com.