Protesters
hoping to save The Smithfield Hotel and the Gala Bingo Hall from the millennium bulldozers
were dealt another blow today.
Both buildings were in a list of properties which the council will be asked to
compulsorily purchase to make way for the £20.56 million Phoenix Initiative.
The council needs to demolish a large number of buildings to cut a swathe through the
city centre in order to build its flagship Millennium Boulevard.
The new scheme involves opening up a vista of squares and piazzas stretching several
hundred yards from the Cathedral to Cook Street Gate at the Inner Ring Road.
The work will expose the remains of the 8th century Benedictine Priory alongside Holy
Trinity Church and the new Cathedral. The priory ruins will form part of a formally laid
out public garden below existing ground level and the project will descend in a series of
plateaux opening up a long-hidden panorama of the northern aspect of Holy Trinity Church.
At the foot of the stepped gardens will be Priory Place, surrounded by four-storey
buildings for catering and retail use.
There have been many protests, particularly to try to save the Smithfield and the bingo
hall which started life as Coventry Hippodrome, famous for its variety shows at which many
top artistes appeared.
The council will be asked to purchase the following: Tower Club in Tower Street; Gala
Bingo Club; shop and office premises at 15-19 Hales Street; the indoor market known as The
Shambles in Hales Street; the surface car park and brick warehouse at 23-29 Hales Street;
the Smithfield Hotel; shops and offices at 35-37, Hales Street; 39 and 41 Hales Street;
33, 35 and 37 Trinity Street; 2, 4-6, 8, 10-12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 Fairfax Street; the
Alhambra public house, Stevens Memorial Hall and the multi-storey car park in the road
known as New Buildings; and Holy Trinity Church Hall in Priory Row.
