£20k spent repairing derelict Dudley Hippodrome following vandalism attacks
More than £20,000 has been spent on the derelict Dudley Hippodrome after vandalism attacks forced repairs.
Steel doors have been forced open and security fencing damaged while monitoring checks have had to be carried out on the building since 2010.
Added security measures like anti-vandalism paint has been daubed on parts of the venue to stop yobs climbing up to break in while cash has also spent on removing asbestos from the site.
Workers have also been forced to remove pigeons from the old theatre once graced by Laurel and Hardy, Judy Garland and George Formby.
There are currently two bids on the table to bring the site back into use, with the Friends of Dudley Hippodrome wanting to run it as a landmark theatre again, while a developer wants to turn it into a £8 million entertainment venue.
Campaigners today said it was right that the council ensured the building was well maintained should plans to reopen the venue materialise.
The Friends of Dudley Hippodrome group chairman Gordon Downing said: "This vandalism is systematic of the age that we are moment.
"The council have a duty to protect it against this."
Dudley Council purchased the former theatre which had become a Gala Bingo in a deal alongside the Royal Brierley Crystal site, off Tipton Road, in late 2010.
In the year 2010/11, the authority forked out £8,532.98 on removing an oil tank, existing rainwater pipes and disconnecting electric and gas meters and power supplies.
Officials also boarded up external doorways with steel sheeting.
Over the next three years the council spent a total of £6,457.82 having to remove and replace security boarding and repairs steel sheets.
