REMEDIAL work on the Odeon will be completed in the next week or two, making the 85-year-old building ready for redevelopment by Lee Craven's Bradford Live charitable company.

Andy Taylor, Bradford Council's economic development officer, said: "We've just completed the £1.32m remedial work to make the building safe. The building is sound and in a safe state ready for future redevelopment.

"It's moved on to our satisfaction. There's just a little bit more work on the domes. We expect to be finished in the next week or so."

The money came from the Bristol-based Homes and Communities Agency, a public body sponsored by the Department of Communities and Local Government whose political boss, Secretary of State Eric Pickles, used to be the Conservative leader of Bradford Council when the Odeon was a popular cinema.

After the Coalition Government scrapped the regional agency Yorkshire Forward the ownership of the building passed to his department. Mr Pickles offered the Odeon to Bradford Council for £1.

Two groups competed for the chance to redevelop the Odeon: Bradford One and Bradford Live. The council chose Bradford Live.

Irfan Ajeeb is one of seven trustees of the charitable company. The former director of the National Media Museum's Bite the Mango Film Festival said the future for the Odeon, the future for Bradford city-centre, looked so much better than it did three years ago.

"It's not an easy process when you start applying for funding," he said. "We are quietly confident; it's just a matter of being patient and getting the job done."

The job in question is converting the former triple-screen cinema into a place of public entertainment and performance.

"The aim has always been to make the Odeon a state-of-the-art live entertainment building with international stars performing to 4,000 to 5,000 people.

"We always said the Odeon building can't be knocked down; that's why Lee decided to invest his time and money because he understands the implication for the building.

"With Westfield happening it's an exciting time for Bradford, unlike the bleak times three or four years ago when there was a hole in the ground, the Mirror Pool hadn't happened and the media Museum was under threat.We have ridden that wave.

"It's not going to be easy, but good things are coming," he added.

The shape of things to come, what could possibly happen, can be seen in Mersey Square, Stockport. The 1,845-seat Plaza cinema opened in a blaze of glory in 1932 and carried on as a cinema until the last day of 1966. For 40 years after that it became a bingo and social club - the fate of many grand 1930s cinemas.

But in March 2000, Rank Leisure sold the building to the Stockport Plaza Trust and by October 7 the same year the place was ready again to present big screen and live entertainment. It has also become a place for fine dining, weddings and other events.

One man who has seen the Plaza conversion is Bradford builder Norman Littlewood. Mr Littlewood, one of the founder members of the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG) said: "It's worth a visit. It's very beautiful with a very busy restaurant and bar, a cinema part and a theatre part.The local council provided £3m to help.

"The Odeon is much further forward than it was in that internal work has been done, all the debris has been cleared out. It's ready to do something with."

As a builder with his own construction companies and who has been in the business in one capacity of another since 1949 what is his judgement about the state of the building now?

"Structurally it could be kept. There are two million bricks in the walls and the quality is very good, they are the type of brick used to build viaducts and railways. There is plenty of steel in the building. It's good and it would be a shame to pull it down. But it's going too slow," he added.

Demolition, once a consideration, no longer appears to be high on the agenda, depending on whether Mr Craven can find the money to redecorate and refurbish such a large building, which Borg member John Pashley thinks could cost up to £30m.

"I'm not impressed by what the council has done with a million quid. I think they should have had the roof sorted out by now. It still leaks water," he added.

Andy Taylor said: "From Bradford Council's point of view we are working with Lee Craven and Bradford Live to secure funding and move the scheme forward.

"We've been very clear that the council would not be putting money into any scheme. our role has been to manage remedial works and take on the liability of the building, its safety."