FORGOTTEN CINEMA HALLS AS ESPORTS PERFORMANCE CENTRES/ARENAS

I WANT GOVERNMENTS HELP TO TURN ALL OUR OLD CINEMAS HALLS INTO ESPORTS ARENAS & PERFORMANCE CENTERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY... KWESI HAYFORD ADVOCATES...

I was born in the late 70s, and growing up, Cinema halls help shape bonding among family, because these were moments family and young ones will troop together to go and watch American films, India, Chinese and others. These halls were also centres for Local, music and theatrical concerts.

Opera, Palladium Accra in Central, Orion at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle; Roxy, Royal and Globe cinemas at Adabraka; Regal on the Osu-La road, and Rex Cinema Sekondi, Princess Cinema Takoradi, Gyandu Cinema, Sekondi.

I remember many wonderful local Productions that were held at the Sekondi Rex Cinema and these shows were also always sold out. Whenever there was local theatre production "concert" as we call it, comes into town... there were massive economic activities, bringing in people from all over to this venue.

The introduction of the digital age saw a lot of our Cinema houses becoming dormant but now they are totally forgotten... But we have the perfect opportunity to bring back our Timelines Heritage by converting these forgotten Entertainment centres into a state of the art, future-oriented Technology Performance Centers with Esports at its core. As these Centers already exists in Communities, they are in perfect locations for community-focussed National Development Agenda with Technology, Youth and Social.

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

To address the huge youth unemployment is to find alternative digital-oriented skills that will that affirms today's youth culture and experiences. Creating the needed spaces for the youth to express themselves and develop career pathways is the way to go.

MY PHILOSOPHER

My philosophy is we do not need to reinvent the wheel, but we can repurpose abundant buildings, cinemas, supermarts and many more into state of the art Esports Centers, or Game Developers studios, Digital Broadcast training hubs, film production Units, Virtual Reality Immersive Space and Technology Incubators. Creating a value chain of jobs and careers for the youth in Ghana and Africa.

The city of Arlington as an Example.

"Esports Stadium Arlington is the largest dedicated esports facility in North America. The facility serves as a turnkey solution for esports events and productions, built to serve the unique needs and demands of the esports community."

My call goes to the Presidency, Tourism Ministry, Private stakeholders or owners of the centres. To National Development Agency. Ministry of Information and Technology. The Film Authority of Ghana, Arts and Culture Ministry, Chiefs and people of localities where these centres are to begin to think of the developing blueprints for digital future.

Governments and stakeholders within the entertainment industry in other countries have envisioned the key significant role the entire esports ecosystem can play and therefore have started envisioning infrastructures and even cities dedicated to the development and sustainability of the esports ecosystem.

The future is digital spaces, and the digital landscaping within our communities starts with repurposing the old for the future. Esports Conventions Centres are state of the art infrastructures that will promote the social-economic development for the people and the country as a whole.

My only wish that we can see into 30 to 50 years from now the possibilities and the portential that the Gaming, Esports and Digital Ecosystem will offer. And the need to start creating the needed spaces for our young ones to have access to Education, Entrepreneurship, Entertainment, Technology, Tourism, Sportsmanship, IoT, Artificial intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Drone Technology and other associated experiences.

Kwesi Hayford | EsportsGhana President | Email: [email protected] | skype: Ebenhay | Cell: +233 24 222 333 5 | WhatsApp: +233272990990

#passionforkids #Esports & #Education #destiny...#FutureThinking

Read More about forgotten Cinema Halls via the link below:

https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/the-forgotten-cinemas-ghana-s-timeless-heritage.html