As Mayor Steve Krieg said first thing this morning, "This is probably the biggest news story of 2025," and he is not wrong. The Lismore community has been waiting patiently for news about the cinema on Keen Street.

BCC Cinema Lismore is no more. The building has been sold to Luke Mackey and will be renamed the Lismore Cinema.

As if that was not exciting enough, Luke has set a goal to reopen the Lismore Cinema after a multi-million dollar refurbishment before Christmas this year.

The good news was delivered by Mayor Krieg, Councillors Andrew Bing, Electra Jensen and Gianpiero Battista, State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin and Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan.

The million-dollar deal only settled at 3pm yesterday, such was the excitement to let the community know that a much-loved form of entertainment was to return after three years of travelling to Ballina or Kyogle to see a movie.

(From left: councillor Electra Jensen, Giapiero Battista, Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan, Mayor Steve Krieg, State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin and Lismore Cinema owner Luke Mackey.)

Janelle Saffin said she let out a loud scream in her office when she heard the news. "I can't wait to go back," she said, "It also means a significant milestone in our recovery."

Kevin Hogan said this deal means there is confidence returning to our community. "I'm thanking you for the confidence that you're showing in our community that this is a safe place to live, invest, and grow a business in. So thank you."

When Luke stepped up to the microphones, he didn't lay all his plans out on the table. "I want to build some anticipation," Luke said with a smile, "I think we'll drip-feed some of the exciting things we've got planned over the next six months because I love teasing people."

Luke is no stranger to the cinema industry, having been the national Director of Entertainment for Event Cinemas.

"When I left last year, it was always a passion project for me. If it came back up, would they sell it to me? We had to go through expressions of interest, and luckily, I was successful. So, very exciting."

Luke understands the risk he is undertaking by refurbishing and reopening the cinema in the same spot.

"I've always been inspired by the community that you get in this area, particularly, and the resilience. When I came back up here to have a look at the town, I am flabbergasted by how amazing the recovery has been. I'm hoping that my little contribution, having the cinema reopen and making it something special for people to come to, will be something that everyone will support. I'm just excited to get started."

Luke will be starting with a clean slate because the cinema damage from the 2022 big flood was worse than expected, so the interior is back to a base concrete building with no seats and no ceilings.

"Which is a great opportunity for me to start fresh and achieve some of the design things I want to bring to the location."

"We're taking a design approach that is making it so that if there is, God forbid, any other floods, we will be able to recover really quickly. And we're also looking at flood barriers and all the things that would help us not get impacted to start off with, but if we are, then we'll have the ability to be back up and running very quickly.

(An artists impression of the newly refurbished Lismore Cinema)

"And I've taken a lot of advice from locals because everyone's like, No, you just do this and do this. And I'm like, Okay, you guys, just take it in your stride. I can do that too. Let's do it."

Luke assured people that he would have no problem getting blockbuster movies, arthouse films, or special event films into his new Lismore Cinema. He will also consider having wine available for date nights as a teaser for what may be on offer once the doors reopen.

As for the "before Christmas timing", Luke said, "We need a lot of things to go our way, but I know, hearing all the support this morning, we'll get there. I am going to put a lot of pressure on the builders and all the people who are part of it to make sure we will get there."

Today, we saw the removal of the old signage, and very soon, we will see a hive of activity as the multi-million dollar refurbishment begins.

Happy Easter Lismore!