Opened on 16 September 1912,[1] the ‘Lime Street Picture House’ was a very upmarket city centre cinema, with a Georgian styled facade & a French Renaissance interior.

It housed a luxurious cafe on the 1st floor and the auditorium was designed to have the effect of a live theatre with an abundance of architectural features, embellished by plaster mouldings.

The outbreak of war saw an initial closure of cinemas due to fears that large groups of people congregated in one place was inviting trouble during an air raid.

Television was virtually unknown in this country, so people relied on newsreels shown in cinemas for a visual confirmation of what they read in their newspaper, or heard on the radio.

A report published in March 2015 by Sutcliffe found that the building's structure was largely corroded and rotting due to water damage from the roof, though concluded that the facade may be salvageable.

[14] In April 2016 emergency work had to be carried out to make the building safe, with what safety inspectors described as "internal collapse, leaning walls and a high risk that cladding tiles may fall off".

They found no significant threat of cladding 'tiles' falling off but recommended the removal and retention of the post WWII pediment which was not secured appropriately.

Liverpool Council attempted to demolish the facade while the court appeal was ongoing but campaigners were able to obtain a block on this in time.

[20] Initial designs for the complex were criticised by local politicians, including Liverpool's Mayor Joe Anderson who described the proposals as "not very impressive" and by then-councillor Richard Kemp as "abysmal".