Hundreds join bid to 'save' heritage Shrewsbury cinema

Shrewsbury's Granada Theatre was built in 1934 and is currently a bingo hall

More than 500 people have signed a petition to save a 1930s cinema from potentially being turned into flats.

Shrewsbury's Grade II listed former Granada Theatre was built in 1934 and is currently used as a bingo hall.

The local authority's Big Town Plan, now under consultation, is proposing a conversion of the bingo hall and revamp of the wider site.

However, campaigners say it would be "a great shame" for the building to lose its potential for performances.

Dyanne Humphreys started the petition, which she submitted to town planners with 553 signatures.

"There's a lot of love for that building," she said.

The proposed changes are part of planned redevelopments around Shrewsbury's railway station

It was built on Meadow Place near the town's railway station in the 1930s by Russian architect Theodore Komisarjevsky for Granada Theatres, which went on to become Granada TV.

Richard Gray, from the Cinema Theatre Association, said the design was "fantasy".

"The whole idea of cinema back then was that it was escapism," he said, a sense that was an "amalgam of film and spectacular interiors".

"It's got quite [a] grand classical facade, inside there's more of this Italian Renaissance and classical decoration which, apart from the people who play bingo, is unknown to the rest of the Shrewsbury population," he said.

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Any suggestion to turn it into flats are "100% unacceptable," Mr Gray said. "It just can't happen."

In its "vision for the future of Castle Quarter," Shropshire Council's plans say the "retention of the Renaissance style entrance" is "key", but add that transforming the "neglected" building would create "a valuable gateway" to the area.

A spokesperson for Shropshire Council said the residential plans were being considered for the "wider site", not necessarily the cinema building itself.

The plans are still in consultation, with the council calling for feedback from residents.

Ms Humphreys said she was "optimistic these comments will be taken on board and the building can be treasured within the community".