Historic cinema in Colchester saved from demolition
The building has been vacant for 19 years
A 90-year-old former cinema in Colchester has been saved from being torn down for a block of flats and car park.
Blumarble Property Management Ltd, the developer, proposed replacing the former Odeon on Crouch Street, which has been vacant for 19 years, with 55 apartments, two retail units and a 32-space basement car park, but intended to reproduce the original street-facing façade.
Objections were also raised by Historic England, the Cinemas Theatre Association and the Theatres Trust on the grounds it would destroy an important surviving work of major cinema architect Cecil Masey.
Speaking in Colchester Borough Council’s Planning Committee meeting last night (August 19), Councillor Gerard Oxford (The Highwoods Group, Highwoods) said he was “shocked” by the proposals.
He said: “I must admit I read the papers, looked at them, read them several times and I was a bit shocked by what I’d read.
“That façade, it was one of the main criteria, that the façade had to be kept. The owner of the site or the applicant knew that when they purchased.
“To my mind, whether I’m being harsh or not, I don’t see that there’s any way that they can say it now needs to come down, because they knew what they were getting into when they paid the money.”
Buying and holding the building is costing the developer £1.5million, according to agent Robert Pomery.
Representing the developer, Mr Pomery told the committee the site is a “problem” for both the town and the applicant, claiming a refusal would leave the site undeveloped indefinitely.
He said: “It’s been vacant for some 19 years, which is testament to the challenges it presents us all.
“The applicant has put forward a scheme, one supported by expert heritage advice, which is the most viable option that gets the work done and which the applicant is prepared to deliver.”
Councillor Michael Lilley (Labour, Old Heath and The Hythe) said this was not a good enough reason to remove a piece of Colchester’s history.
He said: “This building’s been in Colchester for an awful long time and it means a lot to the people of Colchester.
“We’ve all been to the pictures there, we’ve seen our first films there, Star Wars and such, so it does mean a lot to Colchester.
“It is on the local list and was placed there by Colchester residents, so I don’t like to hear him say it won’t be quite the same but it will be replicated.”
Voting to refuse the application, Councillor Roger Mannion (Con, Tiptree) questioned what it would take to see the building used again.
He said: “It’s been empty for goodness knows how long. Do we leave it to be falling down in disarray?
“I’m not saying this is an argument for or against the application but it is a valid point.
“The building is standing and we need to have some plan in place to look after it one way or the other and I don’t see that being proposed in any form or other.”
This is the latest attempt to redevelop the vacant neo-Spanish style cinema, with a separate residential scheme rejected in May last year and plans to convert the building into a nightclub refused on appeal in 2006.
Formally known as The Regal before it became an Odeon, the cinema was built in 1931 in what is now the town centre conservation area and remained open until 2002.
Although it is not listed, it is one of a series with the Granada, Walthamstow, and the Avenue, Northfields, both of which are Grade II-listed.