Former Odeon building centre of new drive to breathe life into empty Cheltenham buildings
A NEW drive has been launched to rejuvenate a part of Cheltenham littered with empty buildings.
Cheltenham Development Task Force, set up to breathe new life into the town, has turned its attention to the Winchcombe Street area, where vacant sites have caused concern.
They include the former Axiom and Odeon buildings, as well as a spot which used to be occupied by a garage and the former Small Business Centre in Gloucester Place.
Borough council leader Steve Jordan, ward councillor for All Saints, said: "The council doesn't own any of the land in that area, but we are keen to see if we can get something happening there.
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"There are all of these empty sites and there is no sign of any activity."
The derelict Odeon cinema was given planning permission for two restaurants and a nightclub in May 2009.
But the proposals for the 1930s art deco building, which developers have until March 2016 to act on, are yet to come to fruition.
The Axiom Arts Centre, a former corn store built by merchants W Ride & Co in 1887, went into liquidation in 1988, before reopening as another cultural venue in 1993.
It closed in February 2000 and was sold privately in 2005.
There were plans for 160 flats and houses on the former garage and Small Business Centre in Gloucester Place, but the development never happened.
Councillor Jordan is hoping plans for other changes, such as the overhaul at the Regent Arcade and lower High Street, will encourage progress.
He said: "Now we have got some success in other areas nearby we can see if we can make something happen here.
"We have no power because we don't own the land, but it's about encouraging either potential new owners to make something happen or existing owners to maybe do some of the things they have approval for."
A planning application to dramatically change the North Place area is expected to be considered by councillors this month.
If given the green light, the plan would bring a £65million overhaul, including a supermarket and homes.
Earlier this year, an online petition was launched in a bid to save the former Axiom and Odeon buildings.
Councillor Klara Sudbury, who grew up in the area, believes the former art houses are of historical importance.
She said she had asked council officers to look at the "area of local importance".
The people behind website www.28dayslater.co.uk recently published photos from inside the Odeon building.
Comments
by Ms_Superstar
Thursday, September 06 2012, 1:07PM
“Absolutely agree with you there, AL.
Trouble is you would need to be a Euro Millions winner. The building offers great opportunities for a major entertainment venue. You would need to sink a lot of money into cleaning it up and refitting it, then finance the running costs (rates, electricity, insurance, bar staff, door staff, sound & lighting techies and entertainers) perhaps for several years before it started turning a profit. I'm afraid the bean-counters would not have that foresight. I calculated once that it would cost £400 to run somewhere like the Night Owl for one night, excluding rates, electricity and insurance). And that, at the time, was an existing venue.
But, given the dreadful acoustics at the Town Hall (which cannot easily be improved) and the fact that it is still well-attended and has some quite big-name acts, the Odeon could make a profitable disco/comedy/cabaret/dining venue, with a decent size dancefloor and waitress service. A bit like some of the clubs in Bristol and South Wales, such as the Locarno and the Stardust Club.
But, seriously, Cheltenham's night-time economy does need to focus elsewhere than on the 18-25 age group. Apart from the Embassy (which is now focussing successfully on the LGBT community) and Slak Bar (now sadly closed) Cheltenham's music and dance nightlife has nothing to offer older/ non-student/ non-heavy-drinking) clients. And considering that Cheltenham grew up as a leisure resort, that is not good news. And the likelihood of the borough council 'killing the golden goose' looms very large.
It would be a great shame to lose this building, though as in the case of the Coliseum, Steve 'Demolition Man' Jordan's view is that no-one much lives in this area, and their opinions don't count.
Incidentally @AL, you're not the councillor for St Paul's, are you?”
by ALChelt
Thursday, September 06 2012, 9:32AM
“Oh to win the Euro lotto,the Odeon building should be turned into a top flight entertainment venue,and not just for the 18-25's, it already as a great facade and I really am surprised that a major entertainment company as not taken the opportunity in aquiring this terrific building.”
by Nogman
Thursday, September 06 2012, 8:32AM
“One way to link this area commercially to the rest of the town centre would be to part-pedestrianise Albion Street, say from the Pittville Street junction to the Gloucester Place junction. This would make far more sense, would cause less disruption and would encourage more shoppers to visit Cheltenham than the current plan of closing Royal Well, Clarence Street and North Street, and would have the same desirable effect of breaking-up the infamous 'circuit'.
I'm sure there would be a great deal of opposition to losing the Odeon building, and rightly so; this is the only building left in the town centre big enough to contain a flagship nightclub. However, the leaflet put out by the task force does say that anything would be considered, and the whole site should be seen as a 'clean sheet'.”