Plans are on the table in Carlisle, England, to scrap the Lonsdale Cinema, which used to house a Gala bingo hall. Manchester real estate developer Empera Estates plans to bulldoze the former bingo hall to make way for an 82-apartment housing project.

The Lonsdale Cinema, around since 1931, has been in danger of having its doors shut since last year, when the theater's owner, Gala Bingo, listed it for sale. The building will most likely be demolished upon the expiration of the building's lease of the site.

Despite the intentions of Empera Estates to build more housing structures and contribute to the Carlisle cityscape, opponents of the demolition, including the Lonsdale Arts Center Trust and local parliamentary representative Eric Martlew, wished to reincarnate the existing structure as a performing arts center.