Historic England considering applications to list Birmingham's Electric cinema following closure

Historic England will consider bids to list Birmingham's Electric Cinema, which recently closed.

There has been outrage and upset over the closure of The Electric cinema on Station Street in Birmingham city centre. Despite reopening in 2022, it was confirmed last week that the venue would shut for the foreseeable future.

The 115 year-old venue is Britain's oldest working cinema, serving audiences since 1909. It sits on the same street as The Crown pub where Black Sabbath performed their first gig. Staff at the venue have confirmed that the iconic building was to close "for good" and could even be bulldozed and converted into flats.

It’s not just the closure of The Electric which has devastated proud locals, the historic street is now at risk of being bulldozed to make way for a 50 floor tower.

Responding to a comment on Twitter/X, Historic England said they have "recently received applications for listing the Electric Cinema and are considering them carefully." One person responded, saying: "This should be a no brainer and the public campaign is already massive with thousands of people signing the petition already."

Darren John has launched a petition on change.org to protect the area. He wants to designate Station street as a historic, cultural and civic asset. As of this afternoon (Saturday, March 2) more than 10,000 people have signed the petition which you can find here: Designate Birmignham’s Station Street a Historic, Cultural and Civic Asset.

Darren has called on West Midlands Mayor Andy Street to help saying: “More than just The Electric; Station St needs to be designated a site of Civic pride, Cultural value and Historic asset by the West Midland Mayor and Birmingham's civic leadership and members of Parliament. Any applicable listings for historical, architectural and cultural importance should be pursued in order to ensure no demolition of a vibrant and clearly viable street takes place.”