Pool plan put forward for Bradford Odeon

THE former Odeon Cinema could be turned into a swimming pool after the council invited people to submit ‘commercially viable’ ideas to save the 1930s building.

Plans for a swimming pool are one of three bids put forward for its redevelopment. The two other options put forward are plans to redevelop it as a music venue.

The building shut in 2000 and was bought by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward in 2003, which later entered into a development agreement with Langtree Artisan.

That agreement, which would have seen the building demolished, was scrapped last September after the Homes and Communities Agency took over the site following the abolition of Yorkshire Forward.

Earlier this year the building was bought by Bradford Council for £1 with the authority stating it wanted to find a sustainable future for the Odeon.

Bradford One has put forward a bid to turn the derelict site into a concert setting with a capacity of up to 2,000 people while Bradford Live has also called for the building to become a music venue.

The third bid put forward by Bradford Reflections would see the venue turned into a swimming pool