Hey Internet, What Should We Do With This Abandoned 3D Cinema?

“The first full-dome cinema of the Netherlands.” It seemed promising back in 2014. The Infoversum, a massive immersive cinema, which was built on the initiative of professor of astronomy Edwin Valentine in Groningen, The Netherlands had opened its doors. In the 3D movie theater, educational films or children about trees would be displayed, but also space movies. According to the business plan, Infoversum had to bring in 260,000 visitors a year, roughly 700 visitors per day—but this plan unfortunately turned out to be overly ambitious. Only 40,000 tickets were sold—which was just 15% of their goal. The Infoversum has been in financial trouble ever since, and announced its bankruptcy a few weeks ago.

What will happen with the Infoversum is not known yet, but that may soon change. This week, an online initiative at watdoenwemethetinfoversum.nl ("What do we do with the Infoversum?") was launched to find a new use for the building. "We are not affiliated with the Infoversum, but we find that it would be a shame it would end like this," the organizers Zareh Geertjes and Ed Keizer say on the website.

© Infoversum

The site basically works like Reddit. Anyone can submit a plan or vote for their favorite project, just as you can upvote a post on Reddit. The best plan, if it’s reasonable enough, will be sent to the municipality of Groningen. Current plans range from a new dance hall, to a shelter for refugees. Here are some of our favorites:

A 3D cinema (just give it another try)

This plan is brilliant, because it’s what the building was originally meant for: a 3D cinema. How come we didn’t think about that? "Such a bankruptcy can always happen," the optimistic initiator says.

A club

There aren’t that many occasions to dance in Groningen, since the closure of the popular clubs Pledge 48 and Subsonic, says the initiator of the plan called “Subsonic is still looking for a location… Think of the massive visuals that could be projected there!" reads the description.

A shelter refugees while it's empty

Refugees are seeking shelter, so why not use the former 3D cinema as provisional housing? Then refugees at least have a roof to sleep under—a very large circular roof possibly projecting nature films around them, which would be a pretty sweet roof.

Platform for art, culture, science, education, events and business

Why decide to make it one definitive thing? The VJ collective WERC, in collaboration with Viesueel Geweld, thinks the building could become a flexible space, for events such as "audiovisual performances, events, club nights, concerts […] workshops for making dome projections, game nights, 360º presentations for business, content creation, and innovation in the field of immersive media.”

It’s nice enough already to eat out at haute couture restaurants, but the experience would be amplified no doubt if your lobster soup were served to you in the midst of an Asian mountain landscape, or in the Sahara, or under the romantic light of the moon.

Head over to watdoenwemethetinfoversum.nl to cast your vote.

This article originally appeared on The Creators Project Netherlands. 

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