Cinema restoration 'a lot of work' - new owner

The new owner of a Grade II listed former cinema in Sheffield has admitted that restoring the building will be "quite a lot of work".

Independent brewery and hospitality operator True North Brew Co has acquired the Abbeydale Picture House and plans to transform it into a "premier entertainment venue".

The building has faced an uncertain future but Kane Yeardley, owner of True North, said he was captivated by its history.

Prof Vanessa Toulmin, an early cinema expert who will work with the brewery on the restoration, said the venue was important for the city but "needs a lot of money" to be spent on it.

The venue opened in 1920 and was Sheffield's largest cinema at the time, with capacity for 1,560 people.

It was known as the "picture palace" because of its ornate interiors, but closed in 1975, and after 1991 was used as a furniture showroom.

Mr Yeardley has been renovating pubs for more than 30 years but said he planned to turn Abbeydale into a gig and entertainment venue.

"I like buildings that have, what I call, a lot of love marks - it's just got so much brilliant history and no one has got a bad word to say about it," he said.

"I'm looking forward to being able to pick up pieces from other old cinemas from around the same time and putting some glamour of the 1920s and 30s back into the building."

However, he said parts of the site needed "quite a bit of work" to be done on them.

It was restored and reopened in 2008 as an arts venue, and was home to the youth charity Hands Of.

In 2022 the ceiling was found to be unsafe and the auditorium was deemed unusable.

The building has been on Theatres At Risk register since January 2024 due to the damage to plasterwork despite the ongoing maintenance efforts.

Under the plans, the balconies, backstage areas and dressing rooms would be restored.

Prof Toulmin said: "If you look at the history of the building, there's been 30 or 40 years of failed ventures and that's what happens with these buildings.

"People fall in love with a building but their business side doesn't usually come to the fore.

"My job is to show True North the importance of it as a venue for Sheffield and they're very aware of that."

However, she added: "But we've also got to be realistic, it needs a lot of money."

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.