About
A cinema for Helensburgh, run by Helensburgh.
The Tower is on Sinclair Street, in what was Saint Columba’s Church — a Victorian building dating from 1861. From 2014 to 2023 it operated as the only cinema for twenty miles in any direction, then closed in early 2024.
After a two-year community campaign by Save The Tower, the building came into community ownership on the first of April, 2026. It now runs as a not-for-profit cinema and arts venue — a 250-seat auditorium and two smaller cinema screens, a small bar, a few paid staff and a long roster of volunteers.
The programme is mixed on purpose. New releases on Friday and Saturday, repertory on Sunday, kids’ films on weekend mornings, documentaries and one-offs through the week. Tickets stay affordable; surplus goes back into the building.
Three spaces
The Auditorium — 250 seats plus a pair of sofas at the back, the original nave of the church. Main releases and music nights. Cinema 1 — 40 seats with a couple of sofas, the more intimate room. Cinema 2 — 20 seats, where we show repertory, Sunday matinees and silver screenings. Hearing loops and wheelchair-accessible spaces throughout.
Free at the door
Silver screenings, sensory-friendly showings, carers’ cinema and the occasional hustings — mostly free, all open to the town. See the community programme for what’s coming up.
Become a Friend
Tower Friends is how we keep the doors open — £20 a month, unlimited cinema, every penny back into the building. Become a Friend →
The Tower, 79–81 Sinclair Street, Helensburgh G84 8TG · Community-owned, not-for-profit.