Old West Brom cinema to be demolished in council's regeneration plans
A former cinema is set to be demolished as part of multi-million-pound regeneration plans in West Bromwich town centre.
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The old Kings Cinema next to West Bromwich bus station would be demolished by Sandwell Council under plans submitted by the Black Country local authority.
The cinema closed in 2002 and the ground floor was later divided into shops – including a furniture shop for homeless charity Shelter but is now empty.
If approved, the demolition would start in April and take around five months according to the application.
The cinema was said to be the first purpose-built multi-screen cinema when it opened in 1975 as part of the recently opened Kings Square shopping centre.
A £23m plan to demolish the former cinema and build a 15-storey block of flats was approved by Sandwell Council in 2022.
The scheme was described as a ‘vertical forest’ in the planning application with the block of flats covered in a selection of large, medium and small trees, perennial and covering plants with collections of shrubs planted on the balconies of each floor.
An ‘open-air podium garden’ was also included.
The £15m regeneration of West Bromwich town centre and the Kings Square Shopping Centre includes a new indoor market.
The relocation and redevelopment of the indoor market has been hampered by severe delays but is finally set to open this summer.
Several ‘underperforming’ sites will be demolished to help ‘kickstart’ regeneration in the struggling town centre and make way for future investment. New homes would also be built as part of the plans by Sandwell Council.
Kings Square Shopping Centre and other land in West Bromwich town centre has already been bought by the council. Sandwell Council also purchased and demolished the town’s former Wilkos.
