The Bradford Odeon Rescue Group - Campaign time line & Building history

BRADFORD ODEON TIMELINE FROM CLOSURE TO THE PRESENT DAY:

July 2000 - The Odeon closes

August 2000 - The Odeon is sold to Grange Estates, a private developer

November 2001 - Planning permission to demolish the Odeon and construct a hotel/casino complex is granted

January 2003 - Grange Estates withdraw their plans and put the Odeon back on the market

May 2003 - Prior to a planned property auction Yorkshire Forward [YF] buy the Odeon for £2M

Autumn 2003 - Following early indications that the Odeon would be demolished as per Alsop‘s Masterplan, Norman and Julie Littlewood found the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group [BORG] and begin their campaign to save the building

May 2004 - Bradford Centre Regeneration [BCR] commission Ove Arup to undertake a feasibility study and structural survey of the Odeon

July 2004 - Ove Arup concludes that the Odeon building is incapable of redevelopment, citing issues with the building’s steel as one major factor… WITHOUT actually carrying out a structural survey

October 2004 - Norman Littlewood is formally asked by Bradford Council to form a “working group” to explore ALL redevelopment options for the Odeon with BCR - the meetings reach an impasse after just two sessions. Norman’s hand-picked team vow to continue the campaign as BORG

March 2005 - BCR launch an International Design Competition to find developers to regenerate the Odeon site. 18 expressions of interest are received with none wanting to redevelop the existing building, most likely as per the findings of Ove Arup’s report

November 2005 - The Odeon is ruled out as a potential concert venue in favour of an expansion of St Georges Hall into the Telegraph & Argus [T&A] building by a mystery steering panel acting on behalf of Bradford Council… a member of the panel is the T&A editor

May 2006 - BCR put the final three shortlisted designs for the Odeon site to “public consultation”, with only one scheme retaining any aspect of the Odeon - its towers proving to be the most popular with the public

June 2006 - The Bradford Civic Society chairs a public debate on the Odeon with BORG and BCR representing either side of the argument. BCR are savaged by the public and the Civic Society throws its support behind BORG

August 2006 - BCR announce New Victoria Place as the “winning design” to replace the Odeon with a planning application to be submitted in the Autumn

December 2006 - BORG publish a series of recently acquired interior photos of the Odeon that undermined the suggestions made by BCR that the inside of the building was “dilapidated” so badly that public confidence in BCR hit an all-time low

June 2007 - Designer Linda Barker condemns a proposed amendment design of New Victoria Place on a BBC documentary - this design sinks without trace

July 2007 - BORG’s “Hug The Odeon” attracts a reported 1,000 protesters, who encircle the entire perimeter of the building in a show of mass solidarity

November 2007 - Following unnecessary and extreme works to remove “unsafe” canopies, BORG’s Building Preservation Request (backed by over 1,000 petition signatures) to protect the Odeon from further acts of sabotage is accepted and upheld by Bradford Council

December 2007 - Norman Littlewood addresses the full Council meeting with a five minute speech that was met with applause

February 2008 - At a stormy public meeting chaired by BCR, Yorkshire Forward’s Jan Anderson made a pledge to arrange for the Odeon to be sold to any private sector buyer should one come along

March 2008 - BORG not only produce their own architect visuals for a refurbished Odeon, they also announce they have private sector buyer and developer interest

May 2008 - Yorkshire Forward say the Odeon is not for sale and Jan Anderson’s pledge was taken out of context

June 2008 - The Odeon receives its first ever structural survey, which concluded with the view that no major defects exist within the building

July 2008 - BORG publish the first edition of The Odeon Observer and unveil Nirmal Singh as their buyer

October 2008 - Yorkshire Forward and their developer Langtree Artisan finally submit the planning application for New Victoria Place, which receives blanket condemnation, including English Heritage which scuppers the chances of this third incarnation

February 2009 - Bradford Council lose BORG’s objection to the original planning application.

May 2009 - It is announced that BCR are to be “wound up”

July 2009 - A revised planning application for New Victoria Place is submitted, with the support of English Heritage, who seem to have mysteriously changed their minds…

September 2009 - Despite over 2,000 public objection representations being received, with only two in support, Bradford Council’s Regulatory & Appeals [R & A] Committee approve demolition of the Odeon subject to a Section 106 Agreement to ensure another Westfield debacle is spared

May 2010 - A member of the R & A Committee, and senior councillor who voted to demolish the Odeon loses his seat after a hard-hitting campaign by some BORG members

June 2010 - It is announced that Yorkshire Forward are to be disbanded, but a question mark remains over the future of their Bradford assets - including the Odeon.

July 2010 - Pressure is mounting to ensure the ownership of our Odeon be returned to Bradford Council so the people of Bradford’s views can be properly represented.

Bradford Odeon - A Brief History

For a more detailed historical account of the Bradford Odeon building, please check out Colin Sutton's excellent essay: New Victoria/Gaumont/Odeon History

Whilst in use, the Odeon building served Bradford well for seventy wonderful years...

Its beginnings in September 1930 as the New Victoria theatre/cinema saw the birth of a grand entertainment complex of superior architectural quality - internal and external - in the city. Housed within the two million bricks and white tile exterior was a huge 3,300+ capacity auditorium boasting exceptional acoustic capabilities and lavish interior decoration, including a spectacular ceiling dome. Alongside the Thornton Road side there was a separate wing containing a beautifully ornate ballroom above a stylish restaurant. At the time of its opening, the "New Vic" was the third largest cinema in the country!

The Gaumont-era that followed in 1950 was particularly exciting as that was when the biggest worldwide stars in music came to Bradford to perform on the vast stage of the North's largest concert venue time and time again. During the 50's and 60's over 3,300 punters would come to pack out the massive auditorium to witness performances by contemporary pop idols (Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, The Everley Brothers etc) and rock 'n' roll legends (Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones to name but a few...). Up and coming stars plus local bands were granted the privilege of performing in the ballroom!

However, these golden years of Bradford's musical heritage ended in 1968. The Gaumont's primary purpose was as a functioning movie theatre, but across the country cinema audiences had dwindled considerably in recent years thanks to television. The Rank cinema organisation responded to this dip in box office takings by introducing the modern and fashionable concept of "twinning" their huge auditoriums into two smaller cinemas and incorporating the increasingly popular bingo... And so the Gaumont closed its doors in November 1968 and re-opened as the Odeon in August 1969 .

The upper circle level of the original auditorium was divided into two new cinemas, housed within concrete boxes - the 467 seater Odeon 1 and the mammoth 1,207 capacity Odeon 2 at its side. Below the cinemas a Top Rank bingo hall was placed in the original theatre stalls area.

It was common place to see huge crowds stretching all the way around the building queuing to see 1970's blockbusters like Star Wars or Grease... To further increase the choice of film entertainment, the former ballroom was converted into the smaller 244 seater Odeon 3 in the late 1980's.

However, with video recorders becoming more affordable during the early 1980's, the added option of "home entertainment" film rental had an eventual knock on effect on cinema audiences in the same way that television had some twenty years earlier. Also the funkier American-style multiplex cinemas in the neighbouring districts with greater film choice were more appealing to younger audiences. As a result it was not unusual for the loyal Odeon patrons to be sprinkled sparingly within an empty cinema, even when " box office smashes" were screened in the late 1990's. When it was announced that a 13 screen Odeon complex would be constructed at Thornbury, the end was in sadly in sight for the city centre cinema, which eventually closed its doors in July 2000.

Following the Odeon's closure there were initial plans for a huge nightclub within the existing building with a glass dance floor above a lit-up Bradford beck, but these sank without trace. The Odeon was sold to a developer interested in building a brand new casino complex and planning permission for demolition was granted in 2001 by the council. However, these plans were quickly abandoned by the owners of the building and the building was put back on the market...

Yorkshire Forward purchased the Odeon in 2003 for the newly formed Bradford Centre Regeneration (BCR) to redevelop. However, following strong public objection to demolition plans, the Council recommended that BCR should work alongside concerned Bradfordians to explore any further retention possibilities for the Odeon before demolition was declared the final option. A local master builder Norman Littlewood, (who was already well-known for his earlier attempts to gain listed building status) hand selected a small team to assist with the rescue, and the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG) was formed in 2004...

For the last five years BORG have campaigned tirelessly to save the Bradford Odeon, with huge public support every step of the way. A planning application is about to be submitted to the city's planners for a vile mixed use commercial/residential complex by Langtree-Artisan and so the campaign is about to enter a crucial stage!

The Odeon needs you...

To read more about the early campaign, please click here: BORG