Blackpool Odeon is no more as screens and seating ripped out in readiness for redevelopment

All the screens from the 10-screen multiplex on Rigby Road have now been removed along with seating and interior walls as part of a 10-week project to rip out the interior of the building.

Once work has been completed, just the shell will be left of the once bustling venue which closed as a cinema in June when the lease came to an end.

Austringer Capital Ltd, which owns the site, has applied to Blackpool Council for planning permission to convert the building into self storage premises with Storage King revealed as the prospective tenant.

A previous application was approved to use the building for leisure purposes such as indoor sports and ten pin bowling, but failed to attract interest from an operator.

Pete Marquis, of Pete Marquis Contractors which is carrying out the dismantling work, said: “It is a 10 week project to remove all the dividing walls and keep the outer shell of the building.

“We have removed all the screens, which were just pieces of cloth, and the seats which have been scrapped as we could not find anyone who wanted them.

“However some of the speakers, which were probably the most valuable equipment, have been salvaged and sold.”

If planning permission is granted for the new use, the building will also include food and drink outlets. Indicative computerised images depict brands including Nandos, Subway and Greggs although no tenants have been confirmed as yet.

New glazing and cladding will be put onto the building as part of the proposed upgrade.

The Odeon Multiplex opened in December 1998, when Jane Horrocks and Brenda Blethlyn attended a VIP screening of their film Little Voice.

A new cinema – the Backlot Cinema – with nine screens including an Imax – is currently being built next to the Houndshill Centre in Tower Street.

Recent investment at Rigby Road has seen Club 3000 Bingo open on the site this summer, following the demolition of the former Swift Hound Pub and redevelopment of that land.

Meanwhile the former Frankie and Benny’s restaurant on the site is set to become a new drive-thru restaurant.