What's happening at Coventry's Gala Bingo?

A huge building located in the heart of Coventry city centre, Gala Bingo has stood empty for months.

Earlier this year, house was called for the last time at the venue on Fairfax Street, with customers left heartbroken - as it closed on Valentine's Day.

And several months later, there is still no sign of activity at the site, which is owned by Coventry City Council on a freehold basis.

Originally, when Gala Bingo announced plans to open a city centre bingo hall with a car park on the land beside Pool Meadow in 2000, the council sold a long leasehold interest to Gala.

It is believed that the bingo hall opened for business in early 2002.

In 2016, the car park was closed, with a huge student accommodation complex built in its place.

The first phase of the CODE student accommodation opened to students in September 2018, with the entire building, all 1,192 studio bedrooms, believed to be up and running.

Gala Bingo in Coventry, Fairfax Street, with the Code student accommodation behind it

And with the tallest of the four towers at the £40 million development standing at 250 feet, it is the tallest habitable building in the city.

Standing in the shadows of one of the city's newest developments, Gala Bingo is starting to look something of a sorry sight - with graffiti on the walls.

What does the future hold for Gala Bingo?

With large parts of Coventry city centre undergoing massive development, it seems likely that buildings, particularly those on council land, will be brought back to life in time for the UK City of Culture year.

Coventry City Council's planning website offers no clue, with no active planning developments or applications ongoing on the former Gala Bingo site.

The land registry however, offers up a much bigger hint as to what might be coming.

According to the title register for the "land on the north side of Fairfax Street", the registered owner for the site is Code Students Limited - owners of the adjacent CODE student accommodation complex.

Graffiti on the side of the Gala Bingo building

What's more, according to the particulars, the term of the leasehold runs for 150 years, from February 4 2002, with the parties involved consisting of Gala Leisure Limited and The Council of the City of Coventry.

A Coventry City Council spokesperson said: "The Gala Bingo site is land the council owns freehold but sold a long leasehold interest to Gala to facilitate the original development of their Bingo hall.

"Following the decision by Gala to close their city centre operation, CODE have subsequently acquired the leasehold interest from Gala."

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When asked, Code revealed they don't currently have finalised plans for the site.

What is certain, is that the Gala Bingo site may not sit empty and disused for long.

Why did Gala Bingo close?

In January 2019, a spokesperson for Buzz Bingo - the rebranded Gala Bingo, told CoventryLive: "Following a review of our club portfolio, we have decided to close the Coventry Pool Meadow club on February 14.

"Our key priority is looking after our colleagues and customers.

"We will make every effort to offer colleagues opportunities to transfer to our newly rebranded Savoy and Walsgrave Buzz Bingo clubs in Coventry."