Bradford Live
Prince's Way,
Bradford,
BD1 2BS
Prince's Way,
Bradford,
BD1 2BS
5 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Gaumont-British-Picture Corp., Ltd., Odeon Theatres Ltd., Provincial Cinematograph Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation
Architects: William Illingworth
Styles: Italian Renaissance
Previous Names: New Victoria Cinema, Gaumont, Odeon
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Oct 28, 2012 — Dilapidated Odeon Bradford on the market
- Oct 11, 2004 — Bradford Odeon To Be Demolished
The New Victoria Cinema opened on 22nd September 1930 with Tom Walls in “Rookery Nook” on the screen, plus on the stage “Follies of 1930” which was specially produced for the New Victoria Cinema, ‘this sparkling novelty presentation included speciality dancers, catchy songs and dazzling dresses’. It was built for and operated by Provincial Cinematograph Theatres(PCT) and Gaumont British Theatres chain. An enormous and very elaborate cine-variety house, the New Victoria Cinema had a stage 70 feet wide and 45 feet deep, ten dressing rooms. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer 3Manual/10Ranks theatre organ, which was opened by organist Leslie James. There was also a tea room/café, a 200-seat restaurant, and above the restaurant was a large ballroom.
The style was done in Italian Renaissance and the total seating capacity of 3,316 was split between 2,065-seats in the stalls, 509-seats in the mezzanine circle and 732-seats in the balcony, the latter two were entirely different levels but the balcony did not overhang the circle. There were two boxes on each side of the mezzanine circle containing 5 movable seats in each box. An enormous dome dominated the ceiling with a frieze running around three sides of the auditorium just below the ceiling. The projection suite was located between the two upper tiers.
The architect of this ‘super cinema’ was William Illingworth, and when it opened it was one of the largest cinemas in the UK. It remained in the top 10 of the biggest cinemas until sub-division in 1968. The New Victoria Cinema was re-named Gaumont on 23rd November 1950
The stage was well used by companies such as the major touring Ice Spectaculars, the Royal Festival Ballet and pop stars from The Beatles to Buddy Holly. The final use of the stage was on 26th October 1968 with Tom Jones appearing in two performances.
It was renamed Gaumont in 1950 but closed for alterations 30th November 1968 with “Prudence and the Pill” & “Rio Conchos”. Organist Arnold Loxam was the last person to play the Wurlitzer organ, which had been sold to the North East Theatre Organ Association. Its removal from the cinema began immediately after the end of the last film performance (they were given a week to totally remove it). The town’s original Odeon was closed on 22nd March 1969 (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures) and the name transferred to the former Gaumont upon its reopening.
The mezzanine circle and the balcony were amalgamated into one level and split front to back to form two new cinemas which opened on 21st August 1969. Odeon 1 had 467-seats and opened with “Funny Girl” and Odeon 2 with 1,207-seats opened with “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. On 9th October 1969 the former stalls became a separate 240-seat seat Top Rank Bingo Club. The stage remained intact but was never used again.
Later, on 23rd June 1988, the former ballroom was converted into the 244-seat Odeon 3, opening with “Crocodile Dundee”. The magnificent original decoration was no longer visible in the auditorium areas and the resulting cinemas were comfortable but extremely bland.
A new entrance was formed for the cinema in the centre of the façade whilst the Top Rank Bingo Club retained the original grand entrance in one of the two domed towers.
The Top Rank Bingo Club operation was the first part of the building to close on 20th July 1997 and the ground floor was boarded up. In 2000, a new 13-screen Odeon multiplex was constructed out of the town centre on the edge of Bradford and Pudsey, opening on 7th July 2000 (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). The 3-screen Odeon closed on 2nd July 2000 with “Gladiator”, “Frequency”, “Chicken Run” & “Big Momma’s House”. The building began deteriorating rapidly. If it were to reopen as a live concert or performance venue (unlikely at that time) the sumptuous interior was irreplaceable.
Had it survived intact for just a few years more it would undoubtedly been listed and gained some redevelopment protection. The building has been under threat of demolition and redevelopment for several years, but many local citizens opposed this and were trying to save the building.
In October 2012, the property development owners of the building offered to sell it to Bradford Council for £1.00 (one Pound). The Council accepted this generous offer. In March 2015 work began on a £50.5 million restoration and renovation of the building, to become a performing arts centre operated by the NEC Group. As the work reached conclusion in September 2024, NEC announced that they were pulling out of the project and the Bradford Council have to now find a new operator.
In 2025 Bradford is nominated as the City of Culture. It is hoped that the Bradford live can contribute to this event.
Contributed by
Ian Grundy
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Recent comments (view all 39 comments)
My father was the chief projectionist until 1964. I would like to follow the progress in restoration
Message to scoombs… was your father Harry Hines?
Ive just seen a programme with Michael Portillo about the Odeon.Apart from the Ballroom,the auditorium looks as if theres nothing left to conserve.
The building is now being restored as a live music venue at a cost of £22 million.
Architects' Journal — 10/12/2018 — “Aedas reveals £20m plans for Bradford Odeon rebirth”.
The article includes renderings of the proposals, proposed ground floor plan, and photos inside the cinema building (partially stripped to the state required for the redevelopment.)
The planning application for the venue (approved):
Main planning application for the “Refurbishment and extension of former cinema to create an entertainment and event venue with supporting ancillary spaces including bars, ballroom and cabaret bar/restaurant and three-storey extension.”
A previous “CONSERVATION STATEMENT” (for a Lottery Funding application) notably informed by the Theatre’s Trust, 20th Century Society, Cinema Theatre Association, Cinema Theatre Organ Society, as well as the local authority and organisations has been used as a source for the document marked as “HERITAGE STATEMENT,” which in turn seems to have been largely incorporated into the document marked “DESIGN.”
The latter is therefore the most convenient “all-in-one” file to download; it includes extensive background information, alongside numerous photos of the cinema, including under construction, the original plans, the 1960’s conversion plans, and, of course, also covers the proposed scheme.
Telegraph and Argus — May 2019 — “Inside Bradford’s Odeon as work continues ahead of Bradford Live music venue conversion”.
According to the article, further strip out works are underway, with the 1960s conversion floors/walls/added structural elements being removed.
At the time of publication, in particular:
The article also states that the licensing application has been approved.
madorganplayer:
The only decorative aspect I know of that remained in the auditorium is the plasterwork at the front of the lower circle, in the void between the bingo hall ceiling and the 1960’s auditoria.
It (and the original steppings behind!) can be seen in a video uploaded with the title “Bradford Odeon Stripping Out ~ Autumn 2014”
According to the planning application “Design and Access Statement” (referenced as “DESIGN” in the previous post):
“Although much of the plaster decoration of the auditorium was lost in 1968, the steel structure that supported that decoration survives, as do important fragments of the decoration itself, such as the roof lantern.”
Overlaying Rank’s 1960’s drawings over the original, one sidewall of each of the two auditoria being in approximately the same location as the original. It’s not quite clear, but it appears that the rear wall position is partially in the same location, and its central section may suggest that alterations made could not have allowed for the original decoration to have survived.
However, the “Engineering Heritage” section of the “Design and Access Statement” (PDF p14) suggests that the structural aspects are of interest:
“With main roof trusses nearly 3m deep, spanning over 40m across a vast auditorium nearly 20m high, and a rear corner cantilevered out over the Bradford Beck, the ambition and skill of the engineers involved is impressive even by modern standards.
“The basic building has a robust structure of loadbearing brick, steel framing, an interesting and rare early precast plank flooring system, and timber roofs.”
The Michael Portillo programme to which madorganplayer referred was broadcast today on Channel 5.
(Portillo’s Hidden History of Britain—Season 2, Episode 4: “The Palace of Dreams.”)
It is currently available to stream on demand until the 30th November 2019.
Obviously, it is aimed at a “general interest” audience—however, I did watch part of it and from what I could tell the plasterwork to the edge of the auditorium’s dome was (at the time of shooting) still intact.
Channel 5’s programme description, “The New Victoria in Bradford was Britain’s first cinema,” is, ahem, puzzling.
Restoration is coming along well given the corona virus pandemic ect ..they have now actualy manage to remove all of the tripling of the cinema and got it back to one big auditourium! …you can follow the progress on their you tube channel Bradford live!and also their titter feed and web site! here is the YT vid of restoring the auditorium in 2019! https://youtu.be/xJpOiUpbZQs
haem that should have been twitter feed not titter lol https://twitter.com/Bradford_Live?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1363539582801870848%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bradfordlive.co.uk%2Fhome