Bradford Odeon
Bradford Odeon was a cine theater, belonging to the Odeon Cinemas group. The cinema is situated in the city of Bradford. The cinema closed its doors in 2000 due to falling revenue and poor interest. The theatre has since been left to turn derelict, and as of 2012, the building has neither been pulled down nor renovated, and is currently in a poor state.[1] Campaigners, for the past five years, have attempted to return the cinema to its former glory.[2]
Background
The cinema originally opened in 1930 as the New Victoria grand ballroom, restaurant and tea room. In 1938, the cinema underwent extensive renovation and began broadcasting films from the Golden Age of Hollywood, with its first cinema screen. However, two years later, in 1940, the cinema was attacked during the bombings of World War II, and had to be extensively rebuilt. It re-opened in 1950 as The Gaumont, and during the 1960s began hosting stage shows from the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Billy Haley and His Comets. In the 1970s, a second screen was added to the cinema, and in 1988, a smaller, third screen was also added to the building. In 1991, at the height of the cinema's success, a Bingo hall was opened, and regularly attracted over 1,000 people for bingo evenings and competitions.
However, by 1995, revenue totals began falling, due to the opening of two multiplexes in the city, offering a greater choice of movies and a higher number of screens. In 1997, due to the loss of revenue, the owners were forced to close the Bingo Hall, and by 1999, were also considering removing Screen 3 in an attempt to once again increase revenue. However, in July 2000, after the cinema began to make a loss, the owners decided to close the cinema completely, and the doors closed to the public on July 18, 2000. Since, the building has been left to rot, with flooding and damp affecting a large amount of the lobby and Screen 1, and dry rot affecting other parts of the building. The only part of the building which has not been affected is the Bingo Hall. In October 2012, the owners offered to sell the building to the local council for £1, in a hope to restore the building to its former glory.[3]
