Castleford Picture House: Work starts to convert historic derelict cinema and former nightclub into luxury apartments

Developers say there will be ‘no expense spared’ during the £2.2m eco-friendly project which is expected to take 15 months to complete. The building on Station Road has been empty and in a neglected state since it was the target of a suspected arson attack five years ago. Wakefield Council granted planning permission to build 25 apartments after it was bought at auction by developers Jordan Buchan and Natalie Hulse last summer.

Mr Buchan said he is committed to the regeneration of Castleford town centre and hopes to retain as many historic features of the old building as possible. The town has been promised more than £23m of government funding for a series of schemes to revive the town centre.

Mr Buchan said: “We are very excited about the size and quality of the apartments. There will not be any expense spared and we feel like we are going over the top. We are also proud of the eco-friendly features that it will include. Local companies and local people will be involved in the construction work and we are grateful to the local councillors in Castleford for helping to make this project happen.”

The building will be fitted with solar panels and there will be charging points for all residents The new building will contain a gym, cinema room and an office hub. The ground floor will also house the offices of Hunters estate agents who will manage the tenants. The developers also hope to attract a coffee chain to move into the complex and have approached Starbucks and Costa.

Mr Buchan said: “We already have a waiting list of 42 people so we know that the apartments will all be filled. We have had a lot of interest from people in Leeds. The rent for lets of this size in Leeds is around £1,600.Ours will be half that. For the sake of a ten minute train journey people will be able to save £800 per month.”

The Picture House, which opened in 1921, was a luxury cinema and theatre for more than four decades. Crowds lined the street outside the building when The Princess Royal – Princess Mary – visited Castleford in 1955, for the Charter Day ceremony, making the area officially a borough.

The cinema, which seated up to 1,200 people and also had a ballroom and stage facilities, was decorated with flowers and bunting for the occasion. Following its closure in 1964, the building was run as a restaurant, bingo hall, café bar, pub and nightclub. A blaze in January 2017 left much of its exterior, furniture and fittings gutted.