THE latest images inside Bradford Live as the 1930s building is transformed into a music venue show a glimpse of the progress in what will be known as the Gaumont Room.
Originally the restaurant on the Thornton Road side of the former cinema and theatre building in Bradford city centre, the photographs show just how far the renovation process has come.
Where there was once missing ornate plasterwork and boarded-up windows, there is now painstakingly replicated plasterwork and an intricately painted ceiling.
Kirsten Branston of Bradford Live described how the room will house a bar and offer some food, but it will be a flexible space that can be used for an event in its own right.
She told the Telegraph & Argus: “We are at a stage where some spaces are nearing competition – we’re on to the final painting.
“But there are other areas that are still very much a building site. For example, the extension block is almost all completed – that’s where the kitchen, seat store, and NEC operator offices are.
“Then the restaurant and ballroom, we are very much on to the painting of those rooms, whereas the auditorium, for instance, we’ve still got the scaffolding, there’s still structural work going on in that area.
“Some spaces are further ahead than others, which is all part of the process.”
She said the fibrous plasterwork is being carried out by Ornate Interiors from Pudsey – with rooms such as the ballroom being fully restored, and the former restaurant, now known as the Gaumont Room where the plasterwork is being replicated as it was beyond repair.
The painting has been done by specialists within the contractors RN Woolers, using a colour palette which is in keeping with the 1930s.
She spoke of how when the frontage on to City Park was revealed as scaffolding and coverings came down in the last couple of months, it revealed the restored brickwork for the first time.
She added that there was still work being carried out at the ground level on that façade now it was accessible, and the big screen would be installed next year, although it would not be operational until the venue was actually open.
Once complete, the restored building will become a 3,800-capacity live music venue, which is to be operated by the NEC Group.
It is expected to open next year, after being handed over to the NEC Group for fit out in the spring.
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