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PaulB has drawn my attention to this thread knowing that I am quite busy at present and that I was actively involved in a move a couple of years ago now, to get the present owners of the building, J.D. Wetherspoon, to move this development forward or, at least, address the eyesore that we see daily.
With the help of friends on Doverforum and the local media, we succeeded, through naming and shaming, in getting a representative of the company to come to Dover and discuss the issues with Dover District Council officers and myself. We went into the building armed with a large portable floodlight and, after knowing how magnificent that building was when called the Granada or even the ABC, tears came to my eyes when I saw the dilapidated state it is now in and how, after being a night club, Images & Snoops, how they, in making alterations, had ruined what the building was.
Original construction on the building, designed by Theodore Komisarjevski, on a former brewery site, started in 1929 with Bovis as the main contractors. It was officially opened at a ceremony attended by one of the owners, Sidney (Later Lord) Bernstein, on Wednesday, 8th January, 1930 - this building was the first cinema/theatre in the country to bear the name Granada - a name still very foremost in entertainment in this country.
The opening ceremony included British Movietone News, Pathe pictorial, a Mickey Mouse film and a live performance by a 20 piece band on the stage.
Many of you will recall what was originally known as 'Dover's Wonder Cinema' looked like I can advise that that magnificent central stairway, with the balconies going in both directions at the top, and the 'Boxes' high up at the sides of the stage are still there but the floor has been levelled in a split level way for the use as a night club.
I can remember, as no doubt many of you will, not only some of the good old films of the past that were shown in this building, but some of the superb stage shows that were held there in the 50's and 60's with top acts such as Helen Shapiro, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Billy Fury, Adam Faith and many, many more.
Still, back to now, our actions eventually brought a series of meeting between J.D.'s and DDC officers and a planning application was submitted and went through discussions until, out of the blue, it was withdrawn by the applicants. Many months passed and discussions were started up again and another planning application was submitted - I remember asking the case planning officer whether they were serious this time and he considered they were - alas, after many meetings to bring it forward, it was withdrawn again. In fairness to J.D.'s, there are problems to overcome with the site spanning the River Dour as, since the river was awarded main river status, any planning application has to be submitted to the Environment Agency (Who are now responsible for the river under main river status) for their comments and it is they who have also played a major role in the delay in developing the Buckland Paper Mill site.
I have recently been toying with the idea of attempting to come from another angle once again. Following Paul's Email the other day, I asked the current position with DDC officers. There are no active discussions at present with the owners of the building or their agents but there are rumours. This has been supported in a telephone call I had from YourDover who have been doing some work on this too that should be in their publication this Wednesday.
It is a case of watch this space and hopefully, if my sources are correct, there could be something happening in the next few weeks but I'll believe it when I see it especially during the current national recession.
One problem is that with such a large eyesore in the splendid setting of Castle Street, attention is drawn away from a number of other buildings in this street that are in desperate need of attention even by local owners - some local property owners need to get their acts together if they want to help with taking Dover forward as we would all like to see.
Scotchie: Regent building in Deal is owned by DDC and expressions of interest have been received that are currently being considered.