Council signals intention to deal with ‘dangerous’ former cinema

Leeds City Council has revealed it features the old Tivoli cinema, in Acre Road, Middleton, on a list of eyesore properties it hopes to tackle after a councillor branded the derelict site as “dangerous”.

The Tivoli, which opened as a picture house in 1934 before hosting bingo for 48 years up until its 2009 closure, has been left to deteriorate in recent years and no longer has a roof.

Local councillor Kim Groves hopes the council can track down the private site’s owners to make the building safe through redevelopment or demolish it in a bid to ward off vandals.

She said: “I do think, to be honest, that it’s dangerous in that state – it’s been like that for seven months if not longer.

“The same happened to the Middleton Arms and that ended up suffering vandalism and was set on fire.

“It’s a real concern that the owners are not taking responsibility for that property.”

Last year the council announced its intention to tackle 40 derelict sites in Leeds as part of a £500,000 regeneration plan.

The cinema, which was mentioned in Keith Waterhouse’s first novel There Is A Happy Land, appears to be among the latest buildings to be made a priority.

Coun Groves said: “The Tivoli is another iconic building in the area but it’s past its time and 
has become a blot on the landscape.”

A council spokeswoman said it is progressing action on the Tivoli as it is on the list of “eyesore properties” that the authority wants to tackle.