Details firmed up for new development on site of demolished snooker club

An Oldham landmark has been completely erased from the town’s skyline as preparations begin to transform the area. 

Riley’s Snooker parlour on King Street has been fully demolished, with construction works underway to build an eleven-storey building in its place. Final details of the development were firmed up with town planners last week. 

The notorious snooker hall, former theatre, club, and roller-disco venue, which once allegedly hosted The Beatles, used to mark the entrance to the town centre from Westwood.

Photos of the current site show the 117-year-old building reduced to rubble. Deep excavations – filled with water due to Storm Claudia – are being prepared for the new tower’s foundations. 

Developer Mohammed Ahmad Aldallal intends to build 120 new apartments across a staggered six, nine and eleven storey building. The designs by architects Footprint Design feature a mixture of 75 one-beds, 43 two-beds, and two three-bedroom flats, including a total of 11 accessible apartments directly opposite the lifts. 

The two biggest apartments will also enjoy the best views, with plans to build them on the top floor of the tower. 

Meanwhile the ground floor will include six commercial units for shops, cafes and leisure offers, alongside two private entrance lobbies with soft furnishings and concierge desks. There are just 15 parking spaces planned alongside a bike storage room, with developers noting the nearby Oldham King Street tram stop.

The construction site is just one sign of a shift taking place in the town centre, with a number of major housing projects planned or approved on former commercial sites, public buildings, and car parks. Vistry Housing Group intends to bring 147 affordable homes to the site of a former Railway station near Oldham Mumps. 

And Oldham Council are still in the tendering process of a huge plan to bring 2,000 residential apartments into the very centre of the town, with updates pledged in the coming weeks.

Site of former Riley's Snooker Club - now demolished to make way for eleven storey building. Credit: LDRS