BOLTON'S iconic Palais de Danse building has been sold — and could now be demolished.

The former Ikon nightclub — which was on the market for £450,000 — has been bought by the owners of the neighbouring Market Place Shopping Centre.

They say the building is a "terrible state of repair and needs to come down".

Interest in the Palais has been revived after the building took a starring role in last month's two-part BBC programme You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.

The Moorgarth Group has purchased the venue as part of its multi-million pound redevelopment of the shopping centre, which will see a cinema and restaurant complex open later this year.

Chief executive Tim Vaughan said any ideas of the Palais being restored to its former glory as a dance hall were not "financially viable".

He said: “We have bought the building and we haven’t got any firm plans at the moment but they are emerging.

“This purchase consolidates our ownership and simplifies our ownership.

“We do need to be sensible about this. It is in a really, really bad state. As a structure it is in a terrible state of repair. It is basically falling down and needs to come down.

“The building is shot and infested with rats. What people saw on television was actually a temporary theatre set.

“We are trying to move away from the idea that it can be a dancefloor again — that just can’t happen.

“Without millions of pounds of investment it could never work and it just isn’t financially viable."

Former owners the Deltic Group put the three-storey property on the market with estate agents Miller Metcalfe for between £450,000 and £500,000.

The sale to Moorgarth went through a week ago.

The site, on the corner of Bridge Street and St George's Road, lies within the Deansgate Conservation Area and so Moorgarth would need to gain planning permission if it wishes to demolish the building.

Mr Vaughan added: “We will look at it and conserve any of the heritage aspects that we can, if any.

“That is what we are doing in the Market Hall and that is something we always try to do.

“But I have to stress that the physical structure of the building is in a shocking state — it just isn’t viable.”

The BBC Two programme was filmed last summer and the former dance hall was temporarily 'restored' to its former glory by set designers.

It was opened for one night only for the show's finale, welcoming 400 people through the door.

In the documentary, choreographer-to-the-stars Jack Murphy scaled the outside of the building to discover the former Art Deco Palais facade was still intact under the Ikon nightclub sign.

He has been a passionate supporter of reopening the building as a dance hall and said the news of its potential demolition was "heart breaking".

He said: "It will be a very sad day for Bolton. It is part of the heritage of Bolton and Greater Manchester, and therefore the North West.

"Do people not understand what these places mean? It is a building of major civic importance — once you've knocked it down you cannot bring it back. I can't believe it.

"As I said in the programme, the building is bruised but not broken. This will be breaking the community spirit of Bolton if you take that building away."

Cllr John Walsh described it as a significant building located on a landmark junction.

He said serious consideration would have to be taken when considering any planning application.

He added: "It is clearly a building which is an icon in every sense — one of the few remaining buildings of that era.

"It is important that whatever is done to that site is done carefully so you don't lose an important landmark building on that junction.

"Whatever is done will be an expensive job and one would really hate to see work done that is not up to the highest quality. I would like to see some of its former glory."