Dudley Hippodrome saved as campaigners given five-year lease

The landmark venue has been thrown a lifeline as Dudley Council entrusted the keys to the building to Black Country Hippodrome Ltd – a group that has been battling to reopen it.

It marks the latest twist in the long-running saga surrounding the former bingo hall's future, which looked bleak when the council last year unveiled plans to bring in the bulldozers.

However, yesterday's bombshell announcement means there is now light at the end of the tunnel for the iconic Castle Hill landmark to reopen.

A steering group of campaigners in charge of the building will have to hit a series of annual targets set by the council to find the cash to reopen the theatre.

The authority has been pressing ahead with plans to bulldoze the building, to make way for an open air public exhibition space next to the entrance to Dudley Zoo and the town's castle.

While those plans will continue in the background as a 'fallback position', council chiefs said they are now fully committed to working with the campaigners to reopen the building.

Council leader Councillor Pete Lowe said: "We have always maintained that we would look seriously at viable propositions for the building and it is clear that the current group has made significant strides forward in developing a plan for the site.

"However, having come this far, we recognise that the group needs a stake in the building in order to be able to have meaningful discussions with potential funding partners.

"We are now exploring how to reach a position which gives the group this stake, without committing either party fully until we have more certainty. Our work to seek planning permission to demolish the building is merely a fallback position if our work with the group fails to reopen the building for whatever reason, but rest assured they have our full support in their bid."

The Hippodrome's potential salvation comes just two weeks after a pact allowed Labour to retain control of the borough council.

UKIP agreed to abstain from taking part in a leadership vote – as long as discussions took place for the venue to be leased to a campaign group.

Last night, Dudley's UKIP group leader Councillor Paul Brothwood welcomed the decision.

He said: "It's great to see and I think an important thing is that it's not going to cost Dudley's taxpayers any money. We want to see a renewed Hippodrome which is more than just a theatre and is a beacon for the borough – with lots more activities there.

"I hope to see some significant activity in the next few years."

The building has stood empty since it closed as a bingo hall in 2009 and has not been used as a theatre since the 1960s.

In 2010, the council bought the building and launched plans to demolish it as part of a huge tourism masterplan linking the zoo with the town centre. But the plans were halted to listen to groups who asked for the chance to look at other uses for the building – a process that has continued for five years.

The council's cabinet approved a move to put forward a planning application to demolish the building and create a public open space at a meeting in December.

Black Country Hippodrome Ltd board member Steve Daniels said: "It is important that everyone is clear about the scale of the challenge in bringing life back to a building of this scale, but we are approaching this with a positive attitude and are confident that we have the skills on board within our group to do this."