Stafford 800-seater Odeon moves step closer
Plans for a new 800-seater Odeon cinema in Stafford have moved a step closer after proposals to demolish a building to make way for the development were approved.
The former Express & Star offices in Bridge Street will be demolished so the cinema can be built on land nearby and further along the bank of the River Sow. Two restaurants will also be built.
Developers LXB Properties told the Express & Star that builders from Simon's Group are on site now with plans to hand the cinema over to Odeon in March 2018.
"The planning application approval has got us what we need and we're not expecting any delays in the work." A raft of new restaurants will be created, including Chiquito, Nando's, Prezzo and Coal Grill and Bar. So far the old Chicago Rock Cafe and Love 2 Love nightclub buildings have already been demolished on the site.
The cinema is the final phase of the Riverside development within Stafford town centre.
An amendment to the planning application was made to Stafford Borough Council after it was initially hoped that the Express & Star's facade could be retained but now developers WYG Planning will demolish it.
When developers held a public consultation in 2014, 95 per cent of people asked said they backed the cinema being opened. In addition, 98 per cent said they thought the design of the site was suitable for the development. Of those, nearly seven out of ten people said they 'usually' travel outside Stafford town centre to visit a cinema.
It was announced before the New Year that Stafford's current 1930s cinema, The Stafford Cinema, which has three screens and is at the junction of Lichfield Road with Bridge Street and Newport Road, is up for sale. Alternatively, the landmark can be rented for £75,000 a year.
