The Hippodrome was built in 1938 on the site of the Opera House which had been destroyed by fire two years previously.
The 1,700-seat theatre was one of the biggest venues in the Midlands and hosted performances by Laurel and Hardy, Bob Hope, George Formby, Morecambe and Wise among many others over the years. It became a bingo hall sometime in the 1960s but didn’t fare so well in recent times with the smoking ban and an increase in bingo tax duty.
This venue was one of several across the country that Gala Bingo shut in September 2009.
It was recently put forward as a possible location for the new Dudley mosque but the plans were shot down.