Dudley Hippodrome: Hard work starts for campaigners after landmark saved

Yesterday it was revealed that a group fighting to save the iconic venue had been given a five-year lease by Dudley Council to get it reopen for the public.

That was certainly cause for celebration - but lots more work is needed to get the building back up and running, campaigners have admitted.

Gordon Downing, chairman of the Friends of Dudley Hippodrome, said: "It's certainly a big move forward but obviously there are still one or two hurdles for us to get over.

"When we get the keys the first mayor problem is going to be dealing with all the asbestos and the first of our fundraising will go towards doing that.

"We would love money to come forward from anywhere, now we're going to take control of the building.

"We have been quoted a cost of £400,000 for the asbestos but we think we could get it done for less than that.

"Once we've got the asbestos to a safe level then we'll need to get someone in to give us a full assessment of the building from an expert point of view.

"That will give us more of an idea of the fundraising required."

Mr Downing said getting more 'business minded' people involved with the campaign had allowed the group to start to win over the council.

Council chiefs have drawn up plans to demolish the building, but these have now been put on the backburner after the campaigners were granted the lease.

Mr Downing said he remained optimistic the group would be able to save the venue, even as the council plotted to demolish it.

He said: "We were always hopeful and things became more realistic once we got an accountant on board and were able to put some proper figures forward.

"I think that was the turning point - when we went to more business minded people like Steve Daniels.

"Everybody has worked really hard for the cause and now hopefully it's all going to come to fruition."