Eerie video shows inside deserted Dudley Hippodrome as demolition date nears
It used to host the likes of Laurel & Hardy – but new footage shows Dudley Hippodrome is a shell of its former self.
TheSecretVault – which has 44,000 subscribers – filmed inside of the historic art-deco theatre which will be demolished to make way for an education campus.
The move has already been backed by Dudley Council and the campus will provide nursing and healthcare courses and will be run by the University of Worcester.
*Please note the below video contains strong language
Now a group of people have entered the disused Castle Hill theatre, which has not hosted live entertainment since 1974 but has remained as a bingo hall until 2009.
The video, which is an hour long, shows the group navigate through the theatre which has seen better days – with glass on doors cracked and graffiti almost everywhere.
The main YouTuber, Matthew Williams, says in the video: "So we're in this Dudley Hippodrome – most people will be like 'that looks like a bingo club' but it's not just a bingo club, it's special – and it's not going to be here very long because they are knocking it down.
"They're not interested, they've got no interest in it at all."
The group ventures opposite the main seating area – where the stage used to be – and up another flight of stairs, as they explained it still felt "really solid" – until they came across a "floppy" piece of floor near to the back door of the site.
They visit the male toilets, with the toilet having been smashed and two of the urinals broken, and passed through a "Gala bingo" hygiene station. They make their way into various rooms at several stages of disrepair, with the floorboards breaking and paint peeling off the walls, alongside smashed doors.
Dudley Council's cabinet approved the move to knock down the hippodrome last year, with the Government choosing not to intervene in the decision much to the dismay of campaigners.
And several attempts to save the building – including having it listed – have failed, with council chiefs lastly overturning a restrictive covenant on the site which prevented it from being used except fr the purposes of leisure, retail or housing.
It marks the end of the building, which could be flattened by the end of the year, with it being replaced by a university-style campus with the help of a £25 million grant from the Government’s Towns Fund, which would see Worcester University run a nursing college from the site.
The campus development scheme will be funded by the £25 million Towns Fund cash pot awarded to Dudley Council by the Government under a partnership between the council, Dudley College of Technology, University of Worcester, tourist attractions and other borough organisations.
The theatre, which was built in 1938 and also hosted Bing Crosby, has been empty ever since 2009 despite efforts to revive it – with council chiefs insisting now was the time to act over it.
The university will oversee a nursing college which is expected to be up and running by the 2024 academic year.
