A former Mecca Bingo building could soon be brought back into use as a Church following the submission of a planning application to Hull City Council.
The Mecca Bingo, on the corner of Ferensway and Anlaby Road, closed its doors in early 2023 due to struggles with admissions and costs, according to an employee at the time.
Prior to its life as a bingo hall, the building in question existed as the Cecil Cinema, the signage for which remains on the building to this day. Unfortunately following the closure of the bingo hall, the building has remained empty, despite to the popular Admiral of the Humber Wetherspoons pub being just next door.
In addition to the popular pub, the surrounding area is currently seeing the redevelopment of the Monocle (aka Europa House) which sits on the opposite side of the busy cross roads.
After years of the building being unused, an application has now been submitted to the council from the Calvary International Christian Centre which seeks to turn the former Mecca Bingo into a place of worship. According to the Church’s website, their Hull branch currently holds its services at the Reel Cinema in St Stephen’s shopping centre, but is seemingly now looking for a more permanent home.
The Church, whose focus is “to introduce Christ and all that he embodies”, also has operations in Accra (the capital of Ghana), Johannesburg, Leeds, and Manchester according to its website.
The application that has been submitted to the council does not provide much detail into how the church would look should the application be approved.
This application comes just weeks after the council received a rather similar application to turn The Piper nightclub, on Newland Avenue, into a church. That application, which was launched by the Potter’s House Church, remains under consideration by the council.
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
