PLANS to turn the disused former Odeon back into a live venue have been endorsed by owner Bradford Council in "a momentous day" for the landmark building and its supporters.

Bradford Live's £18 million project for the Art Deco building has now been approved by senior councillors, paving the way for the additional financial backing and planning permission to be sought, and a possible completion date in 2018.

A development agreement will also be drawn up and will include the building's transfer to Bradford Live.

Bradford Live director Lee Craven addressed the Council's executive today and said the planned project with its 4,500 potential capacity was "nearly twice the size of the Leeds O2 Academy, bigger than the Manchester Apollo and yet it is neatly below the Leeds Arena which doesn't open for anything less than 5,000".

He added: "A venue of this size would be the third largest auditorium in Yorkshire and the sixth largest in the North of England and would put Bradford firmly back on the national rock and pop touring circuit."

Mr Craven said the venue could also be used for conferences and exhibitions and would attract an extra 400,000 visitors to the city centre, with a estimated direct spend of £12 million.

"We all know just how critical this building is for Bradford's ongoing regeneration," he added.

"It's the last of the big three city centre catalyst regeneration projects after City Park and Westfield, and in its own way is just as important."

The renovation is expected to cost £18.3 million and be funded by both the private and public sectors. The unnamed commercial operator looking to run the venue could put in up to £6 million.

Bradford Live has applied for £3 million from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund and wants to bid for cash from other sources such as the Lottery’s Heritage Enterprise scheme.

Its business plan says it anticipates holding around 150 events a year in the main auditorium and up to 200 events in the smaller ballroom. Construction is expected to take two years and could be completed as early as the first half of 2018, dependent on funding.

Mark Nicholson of the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG), which has been fighting to save the building for more than a decade, congratulated the Bradford Live team.

"Today has the makings of being a momentous day for Bradford because as most people know the Odeon building has been a hot potato for City Hall and an area of concern for the city on a wider scale," he said.

"We are thankful that we could be one step nearer to the happy ending we have been fighting so hard for."

In approving the scheme Bradford Council leader David Green said: "I'm delighted that we are now a significant number of steps down the path. What we will do today in approving this is make a massive leap forward.

"It isn't the end but it is giving Bradford Live the opportunity to go away and secure the funding and support they need and we are going to continue to work closely with Bradford Live and with BORG to give it the greatest chance of success.

"We still retain the position that we can't contribute directly financially to the scheme and we've made that clear from the start of the process."

Cllr Green said it would be a "significant length of time" before the project got to the point of construction, but that clear milestones will be set so that people are aware of its progress.

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