BRADFORD - The Old Odeon Cinema

The old Odeon Cinema sits next to the Alhambra Theatre overlooking the City Park & City Hall. It was originally built in 1930 as the New Victoria Grand Ballroom, Restaurant and Tea Room. In 1938 it was renovated to broadcast films but in World War Two was damaged by a bomb blast.

The old Odeon Cinema

It was later renovated in the 1950s as a cinema, ballroom and later a bingo hall, but shut in 2000 when it was under competition from the larger out of town cinema complexes which had been opened.

The City Park, Odeon & Alhambra Theatre

It is a wonderful building but no one really knows what to do with it and now it is in such a bad state of repair that it would need huge financial input to make into a building safe for people to use again. There have been talks of selling it to the Council for £1. The big question today is demolition or redevelopment?