Exclusive: Bradford Odeon could house John Peel music collection

The group fighting to save the building and its historic twin towers want to use it to house the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts, which would serve as a concert venue, museum and listening room for the famous DJ’s extensive record collection.

The centre would be modelled on the existing John Peel Centre for Creative Arts near the late presenter’s home in Suffolk, with organisers convinced it would help provide an outlet for artists across Yorkshire and help kickstart the city’s beleaguered economy.

The plans are said to have been warmly welcomed by Mr Peel’s wife Shiela Ravenscroft, who was brought up in Saltaire. The pair met when Mr Peel played a gig at Bradford University.

Andrew Stringer from the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts told the Yorkshire Post: “It is an absolutely wonderful idea. It is a fantastic old building and needs to be preserved.”

The Odeon building has lain derelict for more than a decade with a controversial plan to demolish it and create a mixed-use development having seemingly hit the buffers. Planning permission was granted in 2009 but no work has taken place and the building has since been shrink-wrapped in plastic sheeting to prevent crumbling material falling onto the streets below.

It is currently owned by the Homes & Communities Agency who took it over when its previous owner Yorkshire Forward was wound up. It has since spent more than £700,000 maintaining it.

The group plans to finance the scheme as a community enterprise meaning that the building and the museum would be held in trust for future generations, with income generated by providing a world class venue for major acts and other sources such as the Lottery, the EU and the Arts Council.