Protect Station Street’s Irreplaceable Cultural Heritage: Call on Birmingham City Council to Safeguard The Electric Cinema, The Crown, and Birmingham’s Musical and Cinematic Legacy.

Station Street, immediately opposite Birmingham New Street Station, contains three of the city’s most significant cultural assets:

• The Electric Cinema (opened 1909) — the UK’s oldest working cinema until its closure in February 2024.
• The Crown — Grade II listed, widely recognised as the birthplace of heavy metal (Black Sabbath’s first gig) and a key venue in Birmingham’s musical history.
• The Old Rep — the UK’s oldest repertory theatre, still operating and Grade II listed.

These buildings are not merely old structures; they are living embodiments of Birmingham’s contribution to British and global popular culture in film, music, and theatre. Their protection and sensitive reuse engage fundamental public interests in heritage, cultural identity, placemaking, and the long-term economic and social vitality of the city centre.

Since the closure of The Electric, serious concerns have arisen about the condition of the building, including safety risks highlighted by recent incidents involving its signage and reports of deterioration. Leaseholder Glenbrook Property has indicated ambitions for a mixed-use scheme (“Central Station Street”) that could include a residential tower and a re-imagined cinema offer. While the principle of viable regeneration is legitimate, any such scheme must be developed through proper processes that respect statutory heritage duties, the National Planning Policy Framework’s strong presumption in favour of conserving heritage assets, and meaningful engagement with cultural stakeholders and the public.

The Crown, now Grade II listed thanks to sustained campaign efforts, continues to suffer from prolonged neglect by its owners. Earlier this year the City Council rightly refused an application to extend car park use on the adjacent site, recognising that this approach was contrary to policy and failed to deliver meaningful progress on restoration.

Birmingham City Council has repeatedly stated its commitment to protecting the city’s heritage. The West Midlands Mayor has written jointly with the Council expressing serious concerns about the state of The Electric and seeking urgent answers from the leaseholder. These statements are welcome, but they must now be matched by concrete action.

We therefore call on Birmingham City Council to:

1. Use its full range of planning and heritage powers to secure the proper maintenance and security of The Electric Cinema as a matter of urgency, including consideration of enforcement action where neglect creates safety risks or harm to heritage significance.
2. Expedite assessment of local listing or other protective designations for The Electric and the wider Station Street area, and actively explore conservation area status or a strategic development framework that recognises the street’s collective cultural and historic importance.
3. Require any redevelopment proposals from Glenbrook Property or other parties to be genuinely heritage-led, to demonstrate how they will retain and enhance the cultural function of the street (including independent cinema provision), and to be accompanied by robust public consultation and viability evidence that properly weighs public benefits against harm to heritage assets.
4. Work proactively with the West Midlands Mayor, Combined Authority, cultural organisations (including Flatpack Festival), campaigners, and Historic England to develop and deliver a coordinated, positive vision for Station Street as a vibrant cultural hub — building on the National Trust-commissioned vision and the detailed feasibility work already undertaken for The Electric.
5. Hold all relevant landowners and leaseholders to account for delivering on previous commitments to restoration and cultural use, rather than permitting ongoing neglect or piecemeal uses (such as extended car parking) that undermine the street’s potential.

Birmingham has lost too many of its historic buildings to short-term thinking. Station Street represents a rare opportunity to get this right: to protect assets of real cultural significance while enabling high-quality, sustainable regeneration that serves the city for generations.

We urge the Council to act decisively, transparently, and in the long-term public interest.

Please sign and share this petition. We also encourage you to write to your local councillors and the Cabinet Member for Planning, and to attend relevant Council meetings when this matter is discussed.