Bombed Hull cinema 'as important as castle or monastery'

THE remains of a bombed cinema in Hull are comparable to the ruins of ancient castles or a medieval monasteries.

That is the view of city council conservation officer Philip Hempal as councillors prepare to discuss the possibility of issuing a compulsory purchase order on what remains of the former National Picture Theatre.

The site of the old cinema in Beverley Road might not have the visual appeal of Scarborough Castle or Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, but in a report for next week's planning committee meeting, Mr Hempal suggests the grade two-listed building is equally important.

He said: "The significance of the National Picture Theatre lies in the event that was happened upon it and the context of that event.

"The Blitz was an event of world renown, which has resonance across the whole of Europe and had catastrophic effects on a large number of England's major cities, arguably most notably in Hull.

"Contrary to the norm, the damage to the building is where its appeal interest is embodied, being well-presented in a form that directly illustrates and confirms its historical associations in a similar way to ruined castles and abbeys associated with the Civil War and the dissolution of the monasteries."

Partly hidden behind advertising billboards since the Second World War, the cinema is now believed to be the only secular bombed building to have survived in Britain in anything like its condition immediately after the original blast.

No one was killed in the bombing, but about 150 people had a narrow escape.

They were sheltering in the cinema foyer when a bomb hit the rear auditorium wall, blowing in the screen wall and causing most of the building to collapse.

Today, the cinema's vestibule and foyer can still be seen, along with the remains of steps up to the main auditorium.

Beneath the rubble, experts believe the foyer's original mosaic floor is still largely intact.

Mr Hempal said: "The impact of the aerial attack remains graphically clear and it now forms the most direct and evocative physical illustration and reminder of Hull's wartime Blitz.

"The remains of the building give a vivid and encompassing atmosphere of bomb damage, which is perhaps as close to 1940s wartime experience as it is possible to get in the country today."

Councillors are being asked to decide whether to give the go-ahead for the start of the compulsory purchase order process.

Current owner Saleem Hakim has so far refused to sell the site, but last week planning councillors refused him consent to create a timber yard at the rear of the site.

THE long-running saga over the future of the bomb-damaged National Picture Theatre could see a significant new development next week.

For the first time, councillors with the power to authorise a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on the ruins will debate options for the site.

A CPO could be agreed if stalled negotiations with current owner Saleem Hakim show no sign of reaching a mutually agreeable conclusion.

That could pave the way for the council to take over the ownership of the site and then lease it to the Hull-based National Civilian World War Two Trust, which has secured planning consent to redevelop the site as an education centre and visitor attraction.

However, a CPO could also trigger a potentially costly public inquiry.

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