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Birkenhead's former Gaumont cinema on Park Road East could be turned into 25 flats under plans sent to Wirral Council.
The listed building dates from 1938 and opened in the same year as a cinema. The plans would keep and restore its art deco front, but knock down the rear auditorium, which is in poor condition, as reported by the Wirral Globe.
The plans are to create a mixture of one and two-bedroom flats. New flats at the back would stay the same height as the existing front building.
Plans are also included for landscaping, parking, and a shared green space for residents.
A heritage report for the application says the front, with its art deco brickwork, faience tiles and distinctive clown motif, holds the building's most important features.
It describes the auditorium as "utilitarian", with few original features left, and says some internal decoration would be lost to make the scheme viable.
The report says: "The harm or loss is outweighed by the benefit of bringing the site back into use.
"Without demolition in part of the cinema, the site will remain vacant, continuing to blight this part of Birkenhead Park and continue to be a hazard to the local community."
The Gaumont opened on 30 May of 1938 and once seated 1,694 people. It closed as a cinema in January 1964 and later became a bingo hall, a snooker club, a roller skating rink and a furniture store.
A previous owner bought the building in 2020 with plans for 25 to 30 flats. It was sold again in 2025 after that company went into administration.
Earlier this week we reported that plans to restore Bromborough's listed Kinders villa as part of a 23-home scheme had been approved.
Wirral Council will decide the Gaumont application. The plans can be viewed, and comments made, on the council's planning website.
