THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has served a notice to The Discount Store on Regent Street to cease demolition of the Astor Cinema, contending that no permission was requested nor granted by City Engineer Colvern Venture.

According to information received by the Guyana Chronicle, the new owners of the cinema land were to apply for permission to start such work 14 days in advance.

This requirement is necessary as it would allow the city engineer to erect barricades, and put in place other arrangements, that would serve to protect those in the vicinity, and who may happen to be passing by.

Owner of Discount, Rizwan Khan, however, told the Guyana Chronicle recently that he had already submitted an application to City Hall’s building inspector and pondered whether Venture had knowledge of this.

He claimed that he has never instructed anyone to demolish the building and those doing so are out to destroy and loot the property.

Meanwhile, the Church Street landscape, which featured the Astor Cinema for many decades, is expected to change considerably with the removal of the cinema.

Manager of the Discount Store and daughter of Khan, Fariah Khan, had confirmed to the Guyana Chronicle that they are the new owners of the cinema land.

Located at Lot 189 Church and Waterloo Streets, Astor was the last cinema in the city to close its doors, which it did in early 2013, after more than 70 years of being in the movie business.

Khan said the new owners do not know for sure if they will be erecting another ‘Discount’ store at this location.

“It is undecided at the moment what we will do with the land,” she offered.

After demolition work started, she said they had invited the public, including persons from churches and masjids, among others, to visit the location and take, for free, whatever they wanted.

“Sometimes it’s good to give back to charity,” she said.

The news of the cinema’s closing was announced via a ‘For Sale or Rent’ sign on the building in April 2013.