The venue will show films in the day before transforming into a live music venue and club
The former Odeon cinema building in Union Street, Bristol(Image: Google Earth)
The former Odeon cinema in Bristol city centre is to be transformed into a ‘cutting edge music and arts destination’.
UG Arts, the team behind the transformation of the old sawmills in St Jude’s into one of the city’s trendiest new music and arts venues, has asked Bristol city council for a licence to host events, sell alcohol and have live music in the former cinema on Union Street in the middle of Bristol.
The cinema opened in 1938 on part of the site of the old Fry’s chocolate factory in the heart of the city centre, and was infamously the scene of a still-unsolved murder in 1946 – which for years sparked stories of the building being haunted.
The Odeon cinema closed down in February this year when Odeon took over the cinema complex at nearby Cabot Circus, and has been empty ever since.
Now, UG Arts – the firm behind the transformation of the Saw Mills in St Jude’s and the creation of a music and arts venue called Underground, beneath the Galleries, have indicated their intention to take over the Odeon too.
They have told city councillors that they intend to make modifications to the internal set-up of the building, which has three cinema screens and a cafe/bar with foyer/lobby area, create an outdoor smoking area and change the use of the cinema auditoriums.
They said they will remove the cinema seats from screen 1 and from part of screen 2, and are asking for an alcohol licence to run until 4am all week, apart from on Fridays and Saturdays when it will run until 5am.
The plan is to screen films on Sunday afternoons and Monday to Thursday, but also have live music from 7pm through the week in part of the old cinema, and ‘recorded music’ – DJs and a nightclub, from 8pm.
Odeon Cinema in Broadmead(Image: Bristol City Council)
“The application if for a cutting-edge music and arts destination for Bristol, which will promote and support a broad range of cultural activities across music, visual arts and film,” said a spokesperson for UG Arts.
“The premises is currently a cinema with 3 screens, a lobby area historically for tickets and refreshments, and a cafe/bar area in a round room overlooking the shopping precinct.
“We intend to make some modifications to the building and cinema screen rooms, including an additional fire exit / door (connecting screen 1 and 2) and removal of all cinema seats from screen 1 and most from screen 2,” they added.
The city council is now considering the licence application, and people who live nearby have until July 24 to have their say on what is proposed, with councillors expected to make a decision later in the summer.