Inside building work on Bradford Live in former Odeon site

Bradford Live is set to offer one of the country's best live entertainment venues when it opens its doors in late 2022, according to the team behind the project.

Construction work is well under way on-site with teams of builders working to get the venue ready.

The main section of the site will feature an area with a 3,000-seat capacity, which reverts to 3,800 capacity when standing areas are included.

Scaffolding going from the floor to the ceiling of the main section of the venue has been built to add work on the project.

Curtains could still be spotted on the arches overlooking one of the boxes to the side of where the stage will be.

Some images from the building work inside the former Odeon building which is set to become Bradford Live

It will have an upper and lower balcony featuring seating areas looking towards the main stage. Half of the lower balcony outline was demolished in the 1960s but are now being restored to complete the venue.

Off the main live entertainment venue section of the site will be bars and merchandise stands, with toilet facilities below.

The Telegraph & Argus joined a tour event, hosted by Yorkshire legal firm Clarion, of how the work is progressing inside the eagerly-awaited site.

Off from the main entertainment auditorium section of the site are a host of other rooms including the site's original ballroom. These can be used for separate events both in the day and night.

Work is also taking place in the old ballroom of the building. The wooden floor is being restored and the ballroom's skylights will be maintained but instead using L.E.D lights rather than natural sunlight that was originally used.

The ballroom may be used as a private venue, for events such as wedding receptions and VIP events, with seating for up to 300 people.

Original features, including window frames, are being carefully restored and will feature in the new-look site.

Lee Craven, founding director of Bradford Live, says music, comedy and even top circus acts could work well at the venue, which he says will put the city on the map as a live entertainment venue.

He said: "The venue is ideally suited to live music.

"I think live comedy would work well here too, maybe magic shows, something like Cirque de Soleil might work here.

"I think it will attract the national touring circuit acts. They will want to play here.

"This venue also gives a whole new dimension to music.

"It will be complementary to St George's Hall and Alhambra. This venue will bring people from all over the region to here. It will be transformational for Bradford.

"This venue will be an attraction in its own right. It will put Bradford on the map even more.

"We will have the most exciting music venue in the country. That's what we're aiming for.

"We have aimed for maximum flexibility for the building."

The floor of the site's old projection room, known as Odeon One projection room, located at the top of the main auditorium, will also be removed and moved down by a few feet as part of the refurbishment project.

Run by the UK’s leading live events business, the NEC Group, the venue hopes to welcome 300,000 visitors each year to a host of events when it opens next year.

Keighley-based contractor RN Wooler & Co Ltd was appointed as the main contractor for the works on the 1930s building.

Internal works have been ongoing for a number of months, and RN Wooler is now on site having begun the the main work.

The former cinema and theatre has been empty for over two decades, and its future has long been a talking point in the city.

The Bradford Live project will see the building turned into a 3,800 live music venue, and will create around 50 full time equivalent positions upon completion, as well as a further 60 temporary construction jobs.

Bradford Live has a long-term lease from the building owner, Bradford Council, and has an agreement in place to sublease it to the NEC Group as operator in what is a 30-year deal.

Opening in 1930 as the New Victoria, the building changed its name to The Gaumont in 1950. For three decades after 1969, the building became an Odeon cinema and Top Rank bingo club, before finally closing its doors in 2000.

Faced with demolition, a grass-roots campaign group fought successfully to save the building, with Bradford Live taking up the challenge in 2012 to find a long-term viable use for the iconic Bradford building.

In 2016, Bradford Live secured the NEC Group as the venue’s future operator.

Plans for the scheme were approved by Bradford Council and a licensing application, for alcohol, entertainment and late night food, was approved in April 2019.

The tour of Bradford Live also included people who took part in a event discussing the future of Bradford earlier yesterday.

How the building looks now...

A roundtable group, including Ian Ward, general manager and chairman of Bradford BID, discussed what could be done in future years to attract people to the city and district.

Other topics of discussion included Bradford's City of Culture 2025 bid and how to boost the city centre's night-time economy.

and how it is set to look when Bradford Live opens next year