A former bingo club has once again been saved from developers plans to demolish it. The redundant Opera House in Workington has been given a stay of execution while councillors wait to see if it can be saved.
The site was initially built in the late 1800s. The Opera House originally opened as the Queen’s Jubilee Hall and Opera House and had a capacity of more than 1,300 people. The small theatre with just two balconies was burnt down in 1927. It was rebuilt as a cinetheatre, with just one balcony remaining from the fire.

In 1958 with a lack of demand for cinemas, Robert Graves changed the building into a bingo hall. In 2004 Opera Bingo moved to another premises and since this date the building for the main part has remained empty.

Graves (Cumberland) Ltd, owners of the building, wants to knock down the Coopers Walk building and three adjoining shops to build apartments and new retail units. Around 1000 people have joined a Facebook campaign against the proposed plans and a partition with 117 names on has been submitted to the council.

Members of Allerdale's development panel visited the site this week and stated at a subsequent meeting that they had to try to keep the building as a entertainment venue and avoid it being demolished.

It was agreed that they would defer any decision on the demolition plans for three months and hopefully during that time campaigners would be able to detail a rescue package for the building.


They were recommended to grant planning permission for the project, which would also see the demolition of Supernews, the British Heart Foundation and the former Card Warehouse shop in favour of 15 apartments and nine shops.

Councillor John Armstrong added: “It is a quality building and there is nowhere in West Cumbria quite like it.

“It has got to be saved for the people of Workington and West Cumbria and we need to see if there is any other way to preserve it."

Councillor Peter Kendall said: “We need facilities like this in the area and we need to promote arts and leisure in the heart of the town centre of Workington so it must be kept.”

Councillor Allan Caine added: “We should give it three months to see if anybody comes forward to restore it.”

Questions have been raised as to whether or not 3 months will be long enough for an alternative suggestion. Given the size of the project, there will be limited parties.

Councillor Alan Smith commented: “It is a big area and a lot of work needs to be done with it.”