There is hope that a former Gala Bingo club could be set to reopen as a city centre cinema in the near future. The massive Art Deco club had been a cinema prior to its days as a bingo club and concerns have been raised that a piece of history could be lost as it is turned to a block of flats.

An offer has been made in respect of the Hobson Street site, in Cambridge which the estate agent Bidwells has confirmed was received from a business. The building currently only has permission to be used as a cinema or a bingo club and any plans for residential use would require planning permission which would likely face stiff opposition from the local residents and businesses.

The city centre manager, Emma Thornton, hopes the potential buyers will decide to use the building  in a way the community can benefit from it. She commented: “It’s a key building in the historic city centre and we are pleased that it will be used after being empty.

“But it depends on what it is used for and we hope it will be appropriate as it would revitalise that area of the city.”

In June 2009, Gala Bingo decided to close the club to the disappointment and it was reported that around 400 people visited the club on its final session of bingo. The building had been used for bingo for the last 37 years, having been converted from a cinema in 1972.

Occupy Cambridge, which describes itself as a group of "squatters, anarchists, revolutionists, land rights types and general social misfits" moved into the building taking control of it. One of the group members said that the actions would send a message to authorities about providing community spaces.

He said: "We've got pubs closing down and there is nowhere for people to go to meet as a community.

"This is a protest against councils and the capitalist system which are abandoning communities. We are calling for radical social change."

However the group were soon evicted from the premises and metal shutters have covered the doors ever since. Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service had deemed the building unsafe for people to live in.

While the development of both commercial and residential sites is somewhat scarce in the current period, Cambridge City Council said there had been a “number” of enquiries relating to planning permissions as well as applications from various parties.

The building is classed as D2 which covers cinemas and bingo halls and is listed as a “building of local interest”.