Live music plan for Bradford Odeon moves a step closer

Bradford Live, fronted by local businessman Lee Craven, is now the only group still in the bidding process being overseen by Bradford Council.

Mr Craven wants to create a music centre with a 4,000 capacity and must now outline how much the project will cost and where the money will come from.

A rival bid from community organisation Bradford One has been rejected by the council.

A final decision on Mr Craven’s bid will be made in November by the council’s Executive committee.

In a statement Bradford Council leader, Councillor David Green, confirmed that Bradford Live had gone through to the next stage of the bidding process.

He said: “Since acquiring the former Odeon building from the Homes and Communities Agency, we have been keen to consider commercially viable redevelopment proposals which would retain as much of the character of the building as is possible.

“We initially received three proposals from interested parties but only two of those bids went through to the next stage.

“We are now able to announce today that after a thorough assessment of both bids by the Council and independent assessors, just one is progressing to the third stage.

“The Bradford Live proposal would see the building used primarily as an evening venue, hosting major touring live music and live entertainment shows.

“Bradford Live will now need to clarify all the total costs involved and demonstrate they can secure the necessary funding. We will make a final decision on their more detailed proposal at the Executive meeting in November.

“We would like to thank the team behind the Bradford One submission for the time, effort and enthusiasm they have put into presenting their bid.

“Unfortunately, their submission has not achieved the minimum requirements needed to progress to the next stage.

“We remain hopeful that the former Odeon building has a viable future in Bradford’s city centre.”

A spokeswoman for Bradford live said: “We are delighted that we have progressed to stage three of the process. This is a positive result for Bradford. The Odeon building is a key asset to the city centre and to the regeneration of Bradford.

“The next stage is to get back into the Odeon building and allow our technical team to prepare the plans required for stage three. We also need to firm up the capital costs and funding mechanisms. We still have a lot of work ahead and the Odeon is not safe yet; but we hope to be able meet the Council’s stage three criteria and turn our vision into reality. We understand that the ultimate decision is due to be made in November by the Executive.

“Bradford Live would like to thank Bradford One for the mutually respectful way we have competed in this bidding process. A tremendous amount of hard work has gone into the process by both teams. We hope to be able to speak with Bradford One to discuss areas in which some form of future cooperation is possible.”