00:00A plot twist in the adaptation of the former Castleford Picture House.
00:04The Art Deco building opened in 1921 and was a luxury cinema and theatre for more than four decades.
00:12The cinema seated up to 1,200 people and also had a ballroom and stage facilities.
00:18Following its closure in 1964, the building was run as a restaurant, bingo hall, cafe bar, pub and nightclub.
00:26Now, proposals to convert the fire-damaged building into social housing apartments have been approved.
00:32Situated in Castleford Town Centre, it was badly damaged in a suspected arson attack in 2017.
00:39Wakefield Council previously granted permission for 25 apartments to be built at the Station Road property in 2022 after it
00:47was bought at auction by developers.
00:49Fresh plans were then put forward in January this year by a new company to increase the number of dwellings
00:55to 37.
00:56Documents submitted by Yorkshire Picture House Ltd said the end user of the scheme would be social housing provider Vico
01:03Homes.
01:04A planning statement said the building has become an eyesore and it significantly detracts from the vitality of the town
01:09centre in its current condition.
01:11The dwellings have been designed to give very good standards of housing amenity and the proposals include gym and cinema
01:17facilities for residents when the building is fully renovated.
01:21The original scheme also included three commercial units including a coffee shop but the new plan includes reducing the number
01:28of commercial premises to one.
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