2024 The Story So Far

2024, a significant year, marks the 50th anniversary of the Selsey Pavilion’s closure as a cinema. This milestone, a poignant reminder of the past and our recent progress has sparked a renewed sense of optimism for the Pavilion’s future, a future where it will once again be a place of cherished memories.

We purchased the Pavilion in late February. Since then, several trustees have busied themselves tidying and cleaning up before hosting three successful open mornings, which drew 242 curious individuals who shared their memories and asked many questions. We were delighted by the extremely positive response from the local community and look forward to providing various volunteering opportunities in the not-too-distant future. 

The invasive vegetation that shrouded the buildings to the rear of the Pavilion was removed, and scaffolding was erected in readiness for the essential roof renovation. It is undoubtedly “all systems go” at the moment.

In April, we received the fantastic news that our application to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to replace the iconic but dilapidated porthole windows in the Pavilion’s facade had been successful. Replacing the windows will not only make the building far safer, especially for pedestrians on the pavement below, but they will also dramatically improve the appearance of the iconic Art Deco facade.

On St George’s Day, the 23rd of April, Selsey Town Council invited us to attend the annual Selsey Town Meeting, give a brief presentation summarising key historical events in the Pavilion, and set out a vision for the future. During the meeting, our Chair of Trustees, Christian Skelton, gratefully accepted a cheque for £ 35,000 from Selsey Town Council’s Community Fund, which will go a long way toward supporting the roof replacement work kicking off soon.

2024 also marks the third anniversary of our first grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund, which laid the foundations for all subsequent funding bids. The trust also acknowledges fantastic support from the Government’s Community Ownership Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Swire Trust, Chichester District Council, and Persimmon Homes, as well as private donations. 

We must complete an enormous amount of work before we can achieve our target of a limited spring/summer opening next year, but with ownership, we are a massive step towards our long-held ambition of restoring the Selsey Pavilion as a flexible community arts and heritage building for future generations.