EN IMAGES. Discover the building site and the novelties of the Omnia in Rouen, “the most beautiful of cinemas!” »
By Jean-Baptiste Morel
Published on
They are going to be spoiled, Rouen moviegoers. There is no doubt that upon reading this, they will check off the date of the July 19, 2022 on their schedule. Because unless unforeseen, it is on this day that the famous cinema will finally reopen.Omnia of Rouen (Seine-Maritime)all beautiful brand new.
The Omnia matches the Omnia
In the company of the architect in charge of the project Gilbert Long, the general manager of Noé Cinémas, Alain Surmulet, the deputy director of buildings at the City of Rouen Anne Lainé and Fatima El Khili, deputy in charge of urban planning and built heritage, we were able to visit the construction site on Thursday, April 21, 2022, which is progressing, and already gives a very proud look to the future cinema, with some new features in store for us.
First the facade, already visible to all. With its large windows, it is similar to what was the original Omnia, which came out of the ground under this name during the reconstruction of Rouen. At the time, the place was installed a few meters from the late Alhambra, the city’s flagship pre-war cinema. The Omnia then had a huge hall with around 1,800 seats with a balcony and a large 16-metre screen. The establishment changes, depending on the evening, from cinema to music hall.
It was in the 1970s that the giant Gaumont bought the place, says Alain Surmulet, and transformed it into a complex of four rooms. Then added three additional ones in the 80s. The specificity of the place, therefore, is that it develops gradually and increases its number of rooms always in the same space. Also, when the City of Rouen bought it in 2010 and delegated its management to Noé Cinémas (the Omnia then became the Omnia again), it discovered a building that no longer corresponded to regulations or standards, relates Anne Lainé.
A rehabilitation is then decided, a reflection engaged. It would not only be a question of now being up to standard, but also of making the place a more practical cinema, the history of the Omnia having caused a rather bad place with its cramped corridors where, confesses a worker crossed on the construction site, “at the beginning we often got lost”.
The brake on asbestos
The architect selected, the project financed, the destruction of the place begins in April 2020 (Covid helping, the team in charge of the project must compete in ingenuity), but is quickly stopped by a bad surprise: the walls are full of asbestos, which Gaumont covered without removing when it was acquired. Six months of sudden delay, asbestos removal, and an additional envelope of 500,000 euros, bringing the total budget for the work to 6.8 million. The Omnia aux Toiles takes over the interim for Rouen film lovers who love art and essays, but the programmer and the team are hesitant: the screening conditions at the Halle aux Toiles are far from optimal. …
And especially with regard to the expected result in the new generation Omnia: “Shallower rooms and longer screens”, summarizes the architect, specialist in cinemas. For an optimal immersive experience.
An eighth room
An additional room, too, bringing the number to eight. And Hervé Aguillard, director of the Omnia to flourish: “It will allow for an even more complete program. With a capacity of 19 places, it will also be privatized.
The famous large hall, still easily recognizable and including with the works, will regain its capacity of 465 seats, and the largest screen in Rouen (20 meters long) will be installed there. A laser projector broadcasts the films there, and the possibility that a projector for 70 mm film will join it one day “is not excluded”, explains Alain Surmulet.
The other two large rooms will accommodate 231 and 175 spectators at most, and four rooms between 80 and 110 seats will also be installed. New, which was greatly lacking before the works, two lifts will make all these rooms accessible to people with reduced mobility.
The Intermission will be born
Upstairs, another great novelty, a cafeteria space will appear. We can come and extend the sessions over a drink and/or a sandwich, but also simply pass by without even seeing a film: “There will be exhibitions regularly”, explains Hervé Aguillard. From this place, which will be called L’Entracte, customers will have a beautiful view of rue de la République thanks to the large glass facade. At maximum capacity, count a few hundred customers, estimates the architect.
Better isolated
Another important news for the team in charge of the project, the sound system. Once a tad narrow, the wall separating certain rooms from the apartments of street residents has been greatly expanded, in consultation with them. And the future of no longer allowing them to be able to hear the sound of the sessions, which we agree must have been nice at the start, but frankly heavy over time.
As for sound quality, the walls will be largely insulated, state-of-the-art sound techniques used, the spectator experience will be great: “It will be the most beautiful” of cinemas, promises Alain Surmulet.
Brand new but keeping its soul, more practical, simpler, more accessible: the promise is beautiful, and some, for sure, will start counting the days before July 19, 2022. Only 87 sleeps left.
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