This is how Hollywood Bowl will look at Preston's £45m Animate complex

Bosses at the company have submitted plans to Preston City Council for three illuminated advertisement signs to be fitted to the outside of cinema and leisure development, Animate.

The plans show three bright pink and purple signs made of aluminium and plastic. Two simply say Hollywood Bowl with the company logo, and the third says ‘Bowl Dine Drink Play’. The face of the letters and a star will illuminate white. The signs will also have a yellow LED line around the perimeter

When Hollywood Bowl was first announced as tenants in 2021, Preston Council said it would be a 16-lane bowling centre boasting computerised lanes with "plush seating, a stylish bar and diner and a cutting-edge amusement area".

Where’s the work upto?

The site’s cinema and bowling alley are the first two ventures on which internal work has begun since so-called “practical completion” of the building earlier this month. As the most complex of the Animate offerings to bring to life, they will require a little more time spent on them than the scheme’s five restaurants and combined street food hub and cocktail bar, which will all start to take shape during December.

The only unit whose future has not yet been finalised is the one reserved for a competitive games outlet, like an escape room. The council might yet decide to split that space in two in order to create an additional restaurant and a smaller activity area, as it continues the search for its final tenant.

The complex is set to open in spring, but the exact date has not been finalised.