THIS is the man brave enough to head a campaign to save the Imax. Bournemouth council yesterday completed its £5 million deal to buy the controversial Waterfont building – but local man Brian Jenner wants it spared from the bulldozer.

He claims it would be a “grotesque waste” to spend millions in public money on destroying it and that people will feel differently about the Imax if they’d had the chance to see current box office hit Avatar there in giant-screen 3D – and that the cinema could play a part in reviving culture in the town.

The council has budgeted another £2.5 million for getting rid of the building’s tenants and “substantially demolishing” the building.

The Save the Imax Building campaign on Facebook has only 19 members, compared with the 604 joining an Imax Demolition Party.

But Mr Jenner, 41 – a speechwriter and author who founded the arts networking group Bomo Creatives – said: “If there’s a cinema in there, somebody should try using it as a cinema.”

He added: “As soon as people see Avatar in Imax in Bournemouth, I think feelings would change dramatically.”

And he says the building could revive the town’s flagging culture, by housing an art-house cinema, a fringe theatre.

“I think there’s a bit of a crisis in Bournemouth going on at the moment. We’ve lost Borders, we’ve lost the Kube in Poole and you’re getting to a stage in Bournemouth where if you’re of an intellectual or creative frame of mind here’s almost nothing to speak for you in the town,” he said. “We’re almost completely dominated by licensed premises of a purely commercial nature.”

He said: “I’ve lived in Bournemouth six years. I have no memory of what it was like before the Imax was there. I’m not impressed by arguments about the view. I just think that’s a rather weird attitude to take. To spend £7.5m on a view is profligate.”

Meanwhile, an online petition by the Imax Demolition Party had gathered 139 signatures as of yesterday backing the council’s stance.

The Facebook campaign says: “Apart from the appalling design of the structure along with the vast waste of money involved in its implementation, the Imax in Bournemouth has blighted one of Dorset's most unique and beautiful vistas for many years.”

The council’s deputy leader, Cllr John Beesley, said there would be an arts element in the redevelopment of the Waterfront, which he said would be part of a comprehensive development including nearby sites.