Tag: restoration

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Save Hulme Hippodrome’s Spring Festival is this weekend!

The ever-resourceful and positive team behind the Save Hulme Hippodrome campaign have announced this year’s Spring Festival happening this coming weekend.

The Hulme Hippodrome is a cultural landmark of Manchester and this event aims to bring this gem of a venue back to life and into the minds of local people who once swarmed to its performances year in, year out, but for the last few years has been closed and slowly deteriorating, almost to the point of no return.

The Save Hulme Hippodrome team have ambitious aims to bring the crumbling Grade II-listed Edwardian theatre back to life to serve the people of the area once again.

This coming Sunday, March 6th from 12.30pm-3.30pm you are invited to join the party (Pay what you can -tickets on the door) at the Hulme Community Garden Centre for a fun afternoon of live music and entertainment, all sorts of fun activities to join in with, with great food and drink to enjoy. With the chance to see old friends, make new ones, have some fun and enjoy a bit of food and drink into the bargain, it’s certain that everyone will have a great afternoon!

Aside from all this, you can learn the rich and unusual history of the Hippodrome and learn about the plans to revive it, its massive potential for the local communities, and how you can help.

There will be a large covered outdoor area to relax in and enjoy, just in case of rain!

Venue; Hulme Community Garden Centre, 28 Old Birley Street, Hulme, Manchester M15 5RG

Visit hulmehippodrome.org for more details and tickets

And for those of you who might not know, here’s a short history of the Hulme Hippodrome helpfully compiled by the team

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Morecambe Winter Gardens makes progress – and gets more good news

Recreated lost box front courtesy of specialists Hayles and Howe

Currently celebrating its 125th anniversary year, Morecambe’s historic Winter Gardens restoration project is well into its second year.

As can be seen from the interior photos, the plasterwork specialists Hayles and Howe are taking great care in recreating lost ceiling panels, box fronts and other decorative plasterwork features.

Further good news to boost the Winter Gardens’ future life came at the end of January when the local Council voted unanimously to approve the plans for another Eden Project eco-park, this time to be built in Morecambe. You can see from the images that the Eden Morecambe project will form an impressive architectural trio along with the Winter Gardens and the recently-restored 1933-built art deco Midland Hotel.

Its great to report that things are looking good in Morecambe! Well done to all the many people steering this grand old theatre into its next phase of life.

Two artists illustrations of the proposed Eden project in Morecambe
Midland Hotel, Morecambe
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ALW Foundation opens fund for repairing Victorian theatres

The ALW Foundation Victorian Theatres Small Repairs Fund is now open!

Established by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber to help preserve listed Victorian theatres in the UK, the fund will award grants of up to £15,000 on a match funding basis.

It will provide capital funding towards discreet and vital repairs or conservation projects in listed theatres built between 1837 and 1910.

It will prioritise support for theatres where the programme of performing arts activity includes or will include a focus on encouraging social, economic and cultural diversity in the arts.

And it will help fund vital repair projects for which it is otherwise difficult to raise money.

Dr Simon Thurley CBE, ALW Foundation Trustee said “We hope these grants will help secure the future of Victorian Theatres not just as architectural gems but as vital assets at the heart of our communities.”

Find out more and view the application materials here

Applications must be received by March 15th

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West End’s ex-Saville Theatre purchase strengthens hope for theatre return

Odeon Covent Garden, ex-Saville Theatre (photo courtesy David Simpson)

A company called Yoo Capital has bought the Odeon (ex-Saville Theatre in the West End for around £30million, it was recently announced.

Opened in 1931, designed by the noted firm of T P Bennett & Sons, the originally 1400-seater mid-sized venue was in theatrical use until 1970, when it was remodeled as a twin-screen cinema, split horizontally, as which it continues today.

Thankfully Camden Council rejected several recent attempts to get permission to gut the building for a 90+ room hotel adding extra floors to the building. A recent inspection showed that there was much more of the original interior still existing than originally thought, with quite possibly more to be uncovered as the 70s additions are stripped away.

This is the second time that we have heard of Yoo Capital in relation to London theatre; they are also one of the investors behind the new complex at Olympia which will build a large, brand new theatre which Trafalgar Entertainment will lease. Interesting too that Trafalgar have expressed interest in the Saville building before, so this may signal that the renovation of the Saville may well be run by Trafalgar.

The most easily appreciated original elements are on the original facade which has an incredibly detailed bas-relief frieze by sculptor Gilbert Bayes. Measuring 129 feet in length, depicting ‘Drama Through the Ages’ with representations of ‘St. Joan’, ‘Imperial Roman Triumphal Procession’, ‘Harlequinade’ and ‘War Plays’ etc. Sections of this frieze were displayed at the Royal Academy in 1930-1931, prior to their installation on the building. Along the top of the façade are a series of plaques, again sculpted by Gilbert Bayes, which represent ‘Art Through the Ages’.

This lengthy, arresting frieze remains intact and is Grade II listed.

Original auditorium of the Saville Theatre in 1931. Courtesy Martin Clark, via Ken Roe

No doubt we will hear more about this interesting development in the months ahead.

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Theatres at Risk – those on the critical list in 2021

Ramsbottom’s CoOp Music Hall dating from the 1870s, the only addition to the list for 2021.

The Theatres Trust has today published its annual Theatres At Risk Register, which is its 14th year of publication. Yet again this year, the North West of England has the highest concentration of endangered buildings.

This year’s list of 31 UK theatre buildings are those most at risk of being lost due to closure, irreversible changes, demolition or simply neglect. With the appropriate help these historic (sometimes but not always listed) buildings could once again become vital assets to their communities. Once lost, they will never return.

Of the 31 theatres, 24 are in England with 10 of those in the north west and 4 in London. 3 are in Wales and 3 are in Scotland.

Changes from last year are minimal partly due to the pandemic, with the addition of just one building- the Co-Op Music Hall in Ramsbottom, near Bury, which dates from the 1870s and survives above a number of retail outlets, forgotten and neglected until very recently. Isn’t it astonishing how the UK’s building stock can still reveal forgotten treasures, even into the 21st century?

Last year’s new new addition to the list was the Grade II listed Groundlings Theatre in Portsmouth which suffered from the effects of break-ins and vandalism as well as a neighbouring redevelopment threat during 2019. The biggest thing impeding progress now is a very short-term lease which is the main stumbling block to unlocking further grant eligibility.

Positive steps have been made with the theatres who received financial and advisory support from the excellent Theatres at Risk Capacity Building Programme – Leith Theatre, Derby Hippodrome, Burnley Empire, Morecambe Winter Gardens, Salford Victoria, Spilsby Theatre, Swindon Mechanics’ Institute, along with Walthamstow Granada (you can read about my own visit to the Walthamstow Granada here).

Launched as a pilot scheme in 2019, the Theatres at Risk Capacity Building Programme is particularly important because it provides grants and in-depth advice from the Theatres Trust for the early stage work that is often difficult to fundraise for but essential to set theatres at risk on the path to survival and revival. It is certainly proving its value in driving renovation projects forward, which is to be celebrated in this otherwise uncertain time.

This new Register further reminds us of the extensive, valuable work which the Theatres Trust do to help keep our precious entertainment buildings from the wrecker’s ball. It is especially needed during times when daily observation and intelligence is restricted due to the constraints of lockdowns.

To explore the full 2021 Theatres at Risk Register, click here