Blackpool leisure plans revived for former cinema site

Tuesday, 21 January 2025 16:45

By Shelagh Parkinson

Hopes of converting Blackpool’s former Odeon Cinema into a family entertainment centre appear to have been revived with the owners now seeking a leisure operator for the site.

The cinema on Bloomfield Central (formerly Festival Leisure Park) on Rigby Road closed in June 2023 when its lease came to an end and has been empty ever since, with the movie screens now stripped out.

Preston-based Austringer Capital, now operating as AIM Land Ltd, has planning permission for the building to be used for leisure which could include activities such as bowling, trampolining, crazy golf, arcade games, climbing walls or indoor sports such as padel tennis or five-a-side football.

Those proposals were sidelined when subsequent plans emerged for the building to be used for self storage, but that idea was vetoed by the council which refused to grant planning permission.

An appeal was thrown out by an independent planning inspector following a planning inquiry held at Blackpool Town Hall last September. Now the site is being marketed for leisure use once more, with commercial property company Barker Proudlove seeking a tenant.

The planning approval in place also includes permission for external changes to the building including the addition of two food and drink outlets, reduced from four which were initially sought.

The planning inspector, who upheld the council’s refusal of the self storage facility, said the size of the unit meant it played “an important role in terms of the viability of the leisure park”.

He added: “The self-storage use would operate very differently to the cinema use and neighbouring leisure uses. It would be unlikely to generate high levels of activity and footfall in the way that leisure use of the building would.” The inspector threw out the appeal and concluded it would “be contrary to the council’s regeneration objectives.”

Bloomfield Central also includes other leisure uses including Club 3000 Bingo and Bannatyne Gym and Spa. The latest investment saw the opening of a Starbucks drive-thru and coffee shop last year.

There is also a former Frankie and Benny’s restaurant on the site which is also being marketed by Barker Proudlove in order to secure a new operator.