Former notable Mecca Bingo Hall to be transformed

Brighton’s Hippodrome

A former Mecca Bingo Hall is to be transformed into a cinema and restaurant complex.

Brighton’s Hippodrome, which is 117-years-old, is to be transformed into a cinema and restaurant complex, after being empty for more than seven years.

Since 1967, the Hippodrome was run as a Mecca Bingo Hall, however in 2007 it closed, and it has not reopened since.

The Hippodrome will get a new lease of life after Brighton & Hove City Council approved plans.

Alaska Development Consultants are behind the £18m plans and, having been advised by Indigo Planning, will bring the Grade-II listed building – which is classified as “at risk” – back into use.

The designs for the revamp come from Russ Drage Architects. The proposals include an eight-screen Vue cinema housed beneath the floor of the Hippodrome dome and to the rear of the building, a new floor inserted at low level within the dome to create space for a signature restaurant, a second restaurant in the restored and refurbished Hippodrome House, as well as a new public square.

In agreement with English Heritage, all important historic fabric of the Hippodrome will be retained.

The entire enclosure to the Hippodrome auditorium as well as its Middle Street elevation and the Hippodrome House façade will be preserved and restored.

A spokesperson for the project told Leisure Opportunities that the £18m figure represents the build costs, with the anticipated end value of the project being £35m.

Having first opened as an ice rink in 1897, the building – which was designed by Frank Matcham – soon became a circus, which then closed in 1902. A year later, it reopened as a theatre, and then subsequently became a bingo hall in 1967, which it remained until closure in 2007.

Over the years, notable acts have performed at the Hippodrome, including acts, such as: Harry Houdini, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

“Following an exhaustive and comprehensive period of design development and planning consultations, we are delighted to be finally in a position to complete what we started over two years ago,” said Chris Moore, development manager for Alaska Development Consultants.

“Our aim has always been to preserve, restore and enhance this magnificent old building and now, with Brighton & Hove Council’s consent, we can put our plans into action and bring this famous building back to life.”