GOODBYE SCALA

The Scala Cinema where Gracie Fields once trod the boards is to be bulldozed along with Stage One formerly the Cobden Club.  Erewash councillors voted through plans to replace them with smart new homes and commercial units. The decision clears the way for 16 flats, four townhouses and three business premises on the prominent Derby Road site – in a project funded by the government. The demolition of the crumbling Galaxy picture house is part of Long Eaton’s £25million “Town Deal” – which is seeing investment pour in after the borough council helped clinch the levelling-up funding. The cinema closed more than a decade ago.

The council launched a compulsory purchase order after it fell into increasing disrepair. Planners admitted demolition was “regrettable” but stressed: “No proposals for re-use have come forward in ten years. It does not lend itself to a conversion to an alternative use.“ Given the apparent lack of developer interest and limitations of the former cinema for its reuse and the poor current appearance of the building, the loss of the building is considered acceptable.” The development will also see the former Stage One nightclub plus a disused shop unit demolished along with a garage at the rear of the site on Oxford Street. This street is where four town houses will be built. The estimated cost for the entire project, which will include 28 parking spaces accessed from Oxford Street, is at least £5million.It got approval at a meeting of the council’s planning committee.