A not-for-profit action group has launched a campaign to save Scarborough’s former Mecca Bingo site and transform it into a major touring theatre by 2035.
National touring shows could soon return to the Yorkshire Coast under a major cultural regeneration project.
A campaign has been launched to save one of Scarborough’s forgotten cultural landmarks, the Capitol Cine Theatre. The former Mecca Bingo site is the focus of a not-for-profit action group aiming to restore the nearly century-old building and create a vibrant hub for the arts.
Built in 1929, the Capitol opened as the town’s first “talkie” cinema after being wired for sound just weeks before its grand opening. By the 1970s, the building’s use had shifted. The stalls were converted into a bingo hall, while the dress circle continued operating as a cinema until Mecca Bingo took over the entire site in 1977. Mecca remained in the building until October 2025, when deterioration of the building prompted its closure.
Large-scale productions could be hosted at the venue, filling a gap left by the closure of the Futurist and overcoming the size limitations of other regional stages.
George Wakeley, a director of the action group, outlined the vision for the site and the upcoming public consultation:
"So we are looking at turning the building back into a receiving house theater, which means that we can take touring shows nationally. A lot of the theaters within this area are too small to take a lot of the productions, including the both stages at York are quite small as they original Victorian ones. It opens up a new opportunity for this part of Yorkshire to get a new touring theater and can take some of the programming that the futurist used to take. We are opening the building for one day on Saturday the 19th of September. This will be in conjunction with heritage open days, but also our public consultation. So the public are able to come, ask us about the project, find out more, fill in our survey, and then we take all that data and crunch the numbers, and that will allow us to put our plan together based on community's answers."
Community assets, including hot desking areas, rehearsal rooms, and dedicated space for creatives, are planned for the front-of-house block.
The main auditorium, which retains many of its original heritage features, will require the most significant investment. Essential infrastructure must be completely replaced, as the current systems date back to the original construction.
Mr Wakeley detailed the phased approach to the extensive renovations and the long-term timeline for the project:
"After that, we go to phase two, which is that which is the final purchase of the building, which we have lined up pending our viability and our structural surveys which are currently pending at the moment. And then we work on phase three and four, which is the front of house block, which is where more of the community assets, the hot desking, space for creatives and the rehearsal rooms will be, and then phase four is the main auditorium, which has a lot of the heritage features still and needs the most amount of work. It's a long project. It's not going to be open tomorrow. We we're looking in the region of 2035 for the whole building to be completed. There's a lot of work to stamp. There needs a new roof. So we need to update a lot of the plumbing and electrics because they're original from the 1920s, so nearly 100 years old."
Members of the public will have the opportunity to view the historic building and participate in the consultation during the Heritage Open Days event on Saturday the 19th of September.
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