Fresh apartments plan for 'eyesore' former cinema

Plans have been submitted to convert an "eyesore" 100-year-old former cinema and nightclub into social housing apartments.

The Picture House building on Station Road was badly damaged in a suspected arson attack in 2017.

Wakefield Council previously granted permission for 25 apartments to be built but the building remains unoccupied.

The new application puts forward plans to increase the number of apartments to 37.

Documents submitted by Yorkshire Picture House Limited said the "end user" of the scheme would be social housing provider Vico Homes, previously Wakefield District Housing.

A planning statement said: "The building has become an eyesore and it significantly detracts from the vitality of the town centre in its current condition.

"The dwellings have been designed to give very good standards of housing amenity."

The proposals include gym and cinema facilities for residents when the building is fully renovated.

"The building was damaged by fire several years ago and it has become neglected," the application states.

"The regeneration scheme will vastly improve its appearance and will secure the long-term future of this iconic building."

The original scheme included three commercial units, including offices for an estate agent and a coffee shop.

The new plan would reduce the number of commercial premises to one, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The applicants said the proposal would "breathe much-needed new life" into the building.

"It would deliver much-needed new housing and commercial space that is wholly appropriate for this town centre location.

"The proposed development would completely reverse this and would restore the building to being one of the best assets in the town centre, contributing positively to its vitality once again."

The Picture House, which opened in 1921, was a luxury cinema and theatre for more than four decades.

The cinema seated up to 1,200 people and also had a ballroom and stage facilities.

Following its closure in 1964, the building was run as a restaurant, bingo hall, cafe bar, pub and nightclub.

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