Former Stafford cinema 'left to rot' up for sale again after change-of-use plan falls flat
A former cinema is once again up for sale after plans to turn it into a music venue failed to come to fruition.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
The doors to Stafford Cinema in Newport Road remain closed -and for sale signs have gone up on the building in recent weeks.
The two-storey venue was put up for auction in 2022 after the cinema finally closed in 2021 – 85 years after it first opened as an Odeon with the first film screened being Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times. Later in 2022 there was talk of the cinema being transformed into a music venue for the town, but this move – understood to have been put forward by a third party – did not happen.
Speaking in 2022 the owner of the lease, who asked not to be named, said: “Distributors are putting films out on streaming as opposed to cinemas. (Industry charity) the BFI has chosen to see it go. It has been left to rot.”
