For many years, it seemed that the fate of Bradford’s Odeon had been sealed and the historic building was doomed.
Hard-headed pragmatism seemed to have won the argument, despite the long campaign by the many passionate supporters who loved and cherished the theatre and its history, and it appeared to be just a question of when the wrecking ball would strike.
But, thanks in no small part to the vision of one such passionate supporter, the Odeon has not only been saved, but looks set to re-open in just over a year as a 3,800-seat concert venue operated by one of the country’s biggest live music groups.
We talk to Lee Craven, the man behind Bradford Live, about how he turned that vision into reality… Lee Craven is, on first glance, an unlikely figure to have taken on the role of saving Bradford’s Odeon.
He has a background in textiles, working in the family firm Jessgrove in Great Horton, but his role in a project to restore The Plaza at Cross Lane in Bradford – which is now home to the Joshua Project – led him to become interested in the idea of finding a viable, realistic way of bringing back the Odeon.
It had at this point lain empty for around a decade, but around 10 years ago, Lee decided to assemble a team of experts to take a close look at what was possible.
And in 2012, he went public with the Bradford Live plan, revealing they were looking for a public-private investment partnership to fund it.
The more he looked into it, the more he became convinced that the Odeon had to be saved.
“This building gets under your skin. The more you find out about it, its history, and the role it has played in the life of Bradford and its people, the more fascinating it becomes”
Lee Craven
“It is the largest cinema ever built in England outside of Greater London, and was built as a ‘people’s palace’.
Lee Craven
The fact that, barring some decoration, the original building remains wholly intact, albeit hidden away, makes it even more intriguing, and it is exciting now to see that original structure slowly being revealed.”
He admits he had his qualms when putting the idea together. “At first, I wasn’t convinced the project could be a success, because I wasn’t sure what the building could become. My background is textiles not live venues,” he said.
“But I always found unconvincing the argument that the Odeon should be demolished ‘because it doesn’t have a use in today’s world’.
“That was a rash assumption in my opinion and I set out to find the right people who could advise me on possible future uses, if indeed there were any.
“After about a year of fruitless searching, I found Peter Angier, from Carr and Angier, who came to look at the building, and advised that if it was converted back into its original huge capacity format, then it would be attractive to live music and comedy touring acts.
“This was in April 2011, and that’s when the project started to gain real traction, with great help from Tim Ronalds Architects and an experienced engineering team.”
Fast forward to 2019, and after years of funding applications, negotiations with the public and private sector, and the arrival of the NEC Group as venue operators, planning permission for the work needed to turn the Odeon into a live music venue again was finally granted in March, when Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee unanimously gave the go-ahead to the conversion plans.
Lee has no doubt Bradford Live can now attract the audiences it needs to succeed.
“Bradford is a very big city in its own right of course and is nestled within the fourth biggest conurbation in the UK and that is the point: the NEC Group, who will run the venue, see it as very much a regional scale venue, attracting people from across a wide area. Hence the importance of making sure we get the venue right!”
Lee Craven
He said the NEC Group had shown real confidence in the potential of Bradford and the venture.
“The NEC Group is a major commercially driven international venue operator, which has made a 30-year financial commitment to Bradford,” he said. “It can clearly see the long-term potential of this venue, the City and the wider region.”
The project has been helped by a number of grants and the support of the local authority.
Lee said this funding and support was ‘critical’ to getting to where they are.
“No funder likes to be the first, and so the LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) monies, which are currently funding the strip out works, was the first big public funding success,” he said.
“That was followed by a £4m DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) grant through the Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund (NCRF) last year – another major funding breakthrough.
“And of course, throughout this process, Bradford Council has been very supportive and fought hard to win these monies for the city, and to secure the long-term loan finance needed to complete the project.”
Work has been taking place over the last few months to strip out works related to the old Odeon cinemas and bingo hall, and is expected to be completed by the middle of this year.
“It is wonderful to see the original spaces being opened up again, after being hidden for over 50 years”
Lee Craven
“What we will find after the strip out will inform the architect’s designs, though most of the basic design is already complete. The main challenge, as in most major building projects, is finding the right balance between design and budget!”
He said it was hugely important that such an iconic building is going to be preserved for the people of the city.
“As part of this project, we have spoken to many people with personal histories of the building. It means a great deal to them and to many others that it is being brought back to life,” said Lee.
“And its preservation speaks highly of the City of Bradford itself: in its heyday, buoyed by wealth, it built some spectacular buildings, and to bring one of the greatest back to life shows great confidence in the city’s future.
“As I said at the beginning, this building gets under your skin, and soon Bradford will have one of the very best live events’ venues in the country, run by one of the world’s best operators.”
