WARRINGTON'S iconic Mr Smith's night club and former Ritz cinema building is set to be bulldozed on August 11 by its current owners.
Salford Quays based LPC Living Ltd have given notice of demolition to Warrington Borough Council.
As the building is not listed there are no powers to stop the demolition going ahead although fans of the building have launched a facebook group in a bid to save the building which shot to fame in the 1980s with the "Hitman and her" show featuring Pete Waterman and and Michaela Strachan.
LPC Living Ltd is applying to Warrington Borough Council for the prior approval of the Local Planning Authority for the method of demolition and the proposed restoration of the site listed as the Halo Nightclub Off Wilson Patten Street, Bridgefoot.
The application was lodged last Friday and states demolition will start on August 11.
Town centre champion Mike Hannon, deputy leader of the council said he had "mixed feelings" on the demolition of the building.
"I was a regular at the ABC as a youngster so will be sorry to see it go.
"But the council has had long term plans for the waterfront for some time, so whatever happens to the site I would like to hope that it would include mixed leisure and residential to enhance the offering of our town centre.
"As a council there is nothing we can do to stop demolition but we can try and have some influence on what is developed on the site."
Mr Smith’s was formerly the Ritz and then the ABC cinema before it shot to fame in the 1980s, attracting large numbers of revellers each week.
More recently, it had short openings as Synergy and Halo nightclubs in the late 2000s but never attracted the same numbers to make it a viable business.
Warrington council failed in an attempt to buy the building in 2011 when it wanted to include the site in its plans to improve the waterfront area next to the Mersey.
They council was prepared to pay around £500,000 for the building at the time which eventually went for in the region of £1 million.
The building opened in August 1937 as a 1,928 seat cinema and the first film starred Robert Armstrong Without Orders and Chester Morris "I promise to pay."
To join the facebook group set up in a bid to save the building visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Mr-Smiths/673956979363773
We visited the site in July 2014. Unfortunately the site had been accessed some hours earlier. The people we encountered inside had been drinking from the optics left in the premises and were hostile and in the confines of a very dark nightclub, intimidating. We took a tripod and flash but were not given the opportunity to get things set up due to the verbal threats aimed in our direction. This is the best we could do. Im intending to go back. With some harder mates.
Salford Quays based LPC Living Ltd have given notice of demolition to Warrington Borough Council.
As the building is not listed there are no powers to stop the demolition going ahead although fans of the building have launched a facebook group in a bid to save the building which shot to fame in the 1980s with the "Hitman and her" show featuring Pete Waterman and and Michaela Strachan.
LPC Living Ltd is applying to Warrington Borough Council for the prior approval of the Local Planning Authority for the method of demolition and the proposed restoration of the site listed as the Halo Nightclub Off Wilson Patten Street, Bridgefoot.
The application was lodged last Friday and states demolition will start on August 11.
Town centre champion Mike Hannon, deputy leader of the council said he had "mixed feelings" on the demolition of the building.
"I was a regular at the ABC as a youngster so will be sorry to see it go.
"But the council has had long term plans for the waterfront for some time, so whatever happens to the site I would like to hope that it would include mixed leisure and residential to enhance the offering of our town centre.
"As a council there is nothing we can do to stop demolition but we can try and have some influence on what is developed on the site."
Mr Smith’s was formerly the Ritz and then the ABC cinema before it shot to fame in the 1980s, attracting large numbers of revellers each week.
More recently, it had short openings as Synergy and Halo nightclubs in the late 2000s but never attracted the same numbers to make it a viable business.
Warrington council failed in an attempt to buy the building in 2011 when it wanted to include the site in its plans to improve the waterfront area next to the Mersey.
They council was prepared to pay around £500,000 for the building at the time which eventually went for in the region of £1 million.
The building opened in August 1937 as a 1,928 seat cinema and the first film starred Robert Armstrong Without Orders and Chester Morris "I promise to pay."
To join the facebook group set up in a bid to save the building visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Mr-Smiths/673956979363773
We visited the site in July 2014. Unfortunately the site had been accessed some hours earlier. The people we encountered inside had been drinking from the optics left in the premises and were hostile and in the confines of a very dark nightclub, intimidating. We took a tripod and flash but were not given the opportunity to get things set up due to the verbal threats aimed in our direction. This is the best we could do. Im intending to go back. With some harder mates.
