From big screens to big stars

The New Victoria (as it was formerly known) was opened in 1930, built on the site of a former brewery. The eye-catching red brick building combined a theatre with cinema, ballroom, restaurant and tea room café.

Five hundred Bradford workmen built it in six months using two million bricks and a thousand tons of steel.

The Beatles at the Gaumont

In September 1950 following a refurbishment it changed its name to Gaumont.

As the largest indoor concert venue in the north of England it quickly became the first choice of singers and performers on tour - The Beatles and the Rolling Stones both played here.

3,000 fans at once could attend the gigs, often with another 3,000 waiting outside for the second performance.

In 1968 declining audiences meant the age of the big screen was at an end, and the Gaumont was closed and converted into two, and then three, smaller cinema screens by which time it's name had been changed to The Odeon.

Finally in June 2000 the cinema closed its doors for the final time. It was bought by Grange Estates and planning permission was obtained to demolish the building and replace it with a contempoary leisure complex including an 86-bedroom hotel, casino and bars. The company pulled out blaming Bradford's economic climate and decided to auction the site.

In 2003 Yorkshire Forward bought the derelict site for two million pounds. Many people in the city hoped it would be transformed back to its former glory giving West Yorkshire once again a massive concert venue to be proud of.

The future?

A meeting is being held on Tuesday 5th October 2004 at 6.30pm in the Council Chamber of City Hall to discuss the future of the site.

Three months ago, in July architects Ove Arup and Partners identified three options for the site: (a) retention and renovation of the existing building, (b) partial demolition and retention of the building's two towers and (c ) complete demolition and redevelopment of the site.

The building is not listed by the government and now Bradford Regeneration Improvement Committee has said the building will cost too much to renovate and would actually only have a lifespan of thirty years.

What do you think should happen to the building? Add your comments to the debate below.