Community campaign to buy century-old cinema

A proposed auction of Keighley's Picture House cinema has been paused by the council

The sale of a century-old cinema has been paused after local supporters launched a campaign to buy the building themselves.

The Picture House in Keighley, which first opened in 1913, has been owned by Bradford Council since the 1980s and is currently run by a leaseholder.

The council had put the site up for auction, but has agreed to halt the process while alternatives are explored.

Robert Pearson, who has worked at the cinema for 50 years, said: "To me, this cinema is like another home. We're like one big happy family. It would be a real shame to see it go."

Although the council said the operator's lease would transfer with the sale, tenant Charles Morris and his supporters fear a new landlord could raise rents in the future, or decide to convert the building into something else entirely.

Keighley Town Council has pledged to find the £110,000 needed to meet the building's asking price.

Local campaigners have also launched a £300,000 crowdfunding campaign to help pay for a buyout and secure the cinema's future in the longer term.

Robert Pearson has worked at The Picture House for 50 years

Mr Pearson, who has been projectionist and duty manager and started at the cinema aged 16, said he had seen many "magical" highlights over the decades.

"For the 2022 premiere of The Railway Children Return, the place was packed - every seat filled, the cast, the producers, the director, even soap actors."

Regular cinemagoer Alison Birdsall, 62, said: "I've been coming here since the late 1960s.

"My first date was here, watching Jaws. My son started working here when he was 16 - he's 29 now and still does shifts. This place did a lot for him. We don't want to see it go."

Alison Birdsall said her family connection to The Picture House goes back to 1946

Mrs Birdsall said her pregnant aunt "hung on" until the end of classic film Gone With The Wind during a screening in 1946 before rushing to the hospital to give birth.

Bradford Council had listed the Picture House for auction as part of a wider asset sell-off in the wake of its own unprecedented financial problems.

But after mounting pressure - including a 4,000-name petition started by local MP Robbie Moore - the authority halted the sale and entered talks with the town council about a possible purchase instead.

Andy Judson, of Keighley Civic Society and the town council, criticised the "atrocious" handling of the sale but was now hopeful of a solution.

"In the grand scheme of things, we'll actually make a revenue on it in years to come," he said.

"At this time we are aiming to protect it, secure the long-term future of Keighley Picture House and get people back in the cinema."

Charles Morris, the operator of The Picture House in Keighley, pictured in the projection room

The Picture House has survived closure threats before, with Mr Morris and his family reopening it in 1996.

Mr Morris, who runs five other picture houses across Yorkshire and the north, said it was "madness" to consider a sale - particularly during Bradford's City of Culture year.

He pointed out that Leeds City Council owns the Hyde Park Picture House and Bradford Council spent £50m renovating the Odeon as the Bradford Live venue.

"We've been struggling ever since lockdown. I certainly can't cope with any more expense," he said.

"There are circumstances in which I might have to leave."

A spokesperson for Bradford Council acknowledged "how important the Picture House is to the people of Keighley".

They added: "The cinema business itself is not for sale. Any purchaser would simply assume the council's role as landlord. This is effectively a transfer of the freehold of a going concern."

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