Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake had to reevaluate their plans about the St Andrews bar due to the response.
Following a reaction from the community, golf legend Tiger Woods and pop sensation Justin Timberlake were compelled to reconsider their plans for a tavern in St Andrews. Known as the Home of Golf, the couple intended to convert the New Picture House Cinema into a “luxury sports bar” in the community.
A petition against the plans, which also called for renaming the facility T-Squared Social, garnered almost 12,000 signatures. After revisiting their original designs, 48-year-old Woods and 43-year-old Timberlake have announced revised plans for the North Street location, which is less than 500 meters from the Old Course, the site of Woods’ two Open Championship victories.
Now, the couple, who already run a bar in New York under the T-Squared Social brand, say they want to offer a “family-friendly, blended cinema, dining and entertainment offering” that will turn the New Picture House into a “social hub for St Andrews, while, at the time, saving the historic building and beloved cinema”. Additionally, according to T-Square Social, the new design will secure the theater moving forward while preserving its past.
A website and video presenting the plans have been made public by the developers, and a planning application will be “shortly” submitted to Fife Council. It stated that because of a “steep decline” in visitors, the New Picture House was forced to make “a decision to close or adapt”.
According to a statement, the St Andrews standalone theater is no longer “viable” because of a number of problems, including rising energy costs, the crisis in the cost of living, and the growing popularity of streaming services. T-Squared Social’s managing partner, Christopher Anand, stated: “We are happy to announce our desire to increase the number of screens, including retaining the main auditorium, after listening to the citizens of St Andrews.
Our new entertainment idea, which will be located next to the theater, will make sure that there will be a movie theater in the community for the foreseeable future. Additionally, the construction would result in a large financial investment for the town, employing 40–50 people, up from the present 10 who will also receive the
“We urge local people to view our website, which has a video on our proposals highlighting our proposals, and to contact us should they have any questions.”
According to T-Squared Social, the movie theater’s exterior will be preserved. According to the designs, screen two will be replaced with a cozy seating area with an area for electronic darts, allowing people to socialize, while screen three will remain mostly unchanged with some upgrades.
The main auditorium will continue to play movies on its huge screen and serve as a multipurpose area with a variety of sports simulators, such as those for football, rugby, golf, and lacrosse. “This intervention by T-Squared not only allows a cinema offering to be retained for the town, but actually the building itself,” stated David Morris, Managing Director of New Picture House.