A MAJOR revamp of one of Glasgow's best loved cinemas will be followed by a further £1.2million refurbishment by 2015.

Today the Glasgow Film Theatre's new 60-seat third screen opens.

The new Cinema 3 has been created from the GFT's former Cafe Cosmo in the building which has been entertaining film fans since 1939.

It will allow the cinema to show more films as well as giving longer runs to more popular movies.

It is part of a broader redevelopment, which includes a more dramatic foyer with a blaze of new LED lighting, a new box office and soundproofing.

However, the changes to the Rose Street cinema will not stop there - the further redevelopment will include a new coffee bar, a lift and revamped toilet facilities.

The first film to be shown in the new screen, on the ground floor, will be the documentary Leviathan, today at 1.15pm.

The new screen will provide a home for the Glasgow Youth Film Festival and further space for the annual Glasgow Film Festival.

The box office has now moved to the front of the lobby and there are plans to restore the foyer's original terrazzo flooring.

The GFT attracts more than 200,000 film-goers a year and the expansion of its screens is set to add to this number.

Jaki McDougall, chief executive of the GFT, said: "We are the most successful cinema of our kind in the whole of the UK.

"This is not about changing the GFT, it is about safeguarding it for future generations of film viewers.

"We screen around 560 films a year and now we can screen more."

Ms McDougall said that although regular customers may lament the loss of Cafe Cosmo, the upstairs bar in the cinema will now be open to the public and has just six fewer seats than the former ground floor cafe.

The redesign, led by architects Nord, has been inspired by the GFT original Art Deco and Art Modern style.

Brian McGinlay, the project architect for the revamp, said the company was careful to work with materials such as teak, brass and terrazzo, and its design has installed the new cinema with comfortable leather and teak seats with "plenty of legroom".

He said: "The design had to be in keeping with the history of the building, but also show its continuing future as a cinema.

"Using the existing building has provided challenges and every inch of the building has been factored into the design."

As well as hosting film screenings, lectures, question and answer sessions and private functions, the new Cinema 3 will also become home to the Glasgow Youth Film Festival team.

Digital flat screens, as well as bronze mirrors, will be installed in the lobby's new wall.

The GFT hopes to start the second phase of its revamp this time next year, to be completed in 2015.

To date, 40 seats in the new Cinema have been sponsored, with patrons contributing £1,000 donation per seat.

The GFT first opened as the Cosmo Cinema on 18 May 1939. It reopened as Glasgow Film Theatre on May 2 1974.

The Rose Street landmark was classed as a B-Listed building by Historic Scotland in 1988.

phil.miller@ heraldandtimes.co.uk