Film buff's bid to save Odeon (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Film buff's bid to save Odeon

7:00am Friday 18th May 2007 in News By Alex Lewis

A FILM enthusiast, outraged that the historic London Road Odeon could soon be converted to flats, has launched a campaign to save it.

The Odeon, built on the spot of the 1908 cinema in 1935, has stood derelict since its closure in 1995.

A proposal by the current owners to convert it into flats, including a replica of the art deco facade, will be decided at a public inquiry at the end of this month.

Movie fan Ben Stevens, 25, said: "The film pioneer Arthur Melbourne-Cooper built the first cinema in Britain there in 1908 - the Alpha Picture Palace.

"He originally had his studio just across the road, where they want to build the new Tesco's.

"I am really enthusiastic about saving it the Odeon."

Mr Stevens, a film studies graduate from Barnet whose sister Hannah lives in Hatfield Road, St Albans, plans to speak at the inquiry and show a short documentary he has made about the threatened cinema.

His film includes contributions from the St Albans Civic Society and James Hannaway, who successfully restored a similar 1930's cinema in Berkhamsted, the Rex, and wants to do the same with the Odeon.

Mr Stevens has also collected 500 names for an online petition, which sympathisers can sign at www.ohfilm.co.uk, and which will be presented at the inquiry.

His film may be seen at www.myspace/savestalbansodeon