Cinema and anti-tank structure may be recognised...

The former cinema opened in 1922 and has been nominated to be put on Coventry's local list of heritage assets



An old cinema and a wartime anti-tank structure could be added to a city's list of heritage assets.

The Astoria, which opened as the Broadway Cinema in Earlsdon, Coventry, in 1922 and the Blacker Bombard spigot mortar, along the city's Oxford Canal, have been nominated for the city council's Local List of Heritage Assets.

Cllr Naeem Akhtar, cabinet member for housing and communities, has been recommended to approve a period of public consultation to consider including the two locations on the list.

Although not nationally designated, a local listing means the buildings' significance "merits consideration in future planning decisions", a report says.

Akhtar is to consider the report which mentions the two sites this week.

"Locally listed buildings are buildings and sites within the local planning authority's area which make a positive contribution to its local character and sense of place because of their heritage value," the report says.

The cinema, which is now home to the Nexus Institute of Creative Arts, was nominated by a member of the public.

The council's archaeology officer put forward the spigot mortar, which is off Shilton Lane.

A local listing designation does not restrict development of a site, but any application for redevelopment would need to evidence impact to it and "where any loss is proposed, demonstrate that the benefits of a proposal outweigh the loss", the report explains.

The cinema served as one of Coventry's main inter-war entertainment venues and is said to have reflected the growth of the cinema industry in the early 20th Century.

Although some decorative finishes have been removed or altered, its main structure and facade are among parts remaining largely intact.

Meanwhile, the Blacker Bombard spigot mortar is part of a pair along the canal, the other outside the city boundary.

It was among defence structures built from the summer of 1940 against the threat of German invasion.

Coventry City Council's list has evolved over time since at least 1974, the report adds, as nominations have been put forward and considered.

It includes the Calcott Cycle Works in Far Gosford Street, and the Aardvark pub which was called the Hen and Chickens when it opened in the 1830s.