Palace (Plymouth)

• Theatre ID
  1060
• Built / Converted
  1898
• Dates of use
  • 1898 - 1983
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  disused
• Address
  121-123 Union Street, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 3NB, England

Details

Built for the Livermore Brothers, the Palace opened in 1898, as a music hall, forming part of a development which included the adjoining Grand Western Hotel. Elaborate Flemish Renaissance style façe in terra cotta - three main bays and three storeys with steeply pitched tiled roofs. Wide central entrance bay surmounted by a big Flemish gable with two statues of Spanish soldiers standing against the front face on protecting brackets. Small, closely-spaced, arched windows in the upper storey. Three large arched windows between Ionic demi-columns in the piano nobile, flanked in the end bays by semi-circular panels of coloured tiles depicting scenes of the Spanish Armada. The ground floor has seven bays of Tuscan columns supporting a continuous entablature. The elevational treatment of the front is continued for one main bay around the corner and the angle is surmounted by an octagonal turret with cupola and projecting balcony; probably intended to resemble the top of a lighthouse. Much Art Nouveau decorative detail, e.g. on the frieze above the first floor windows, and in the panels below the windows. The façe is at present marred by a simple modern canopy projecting from half-way up the height of the columns. A wide, balustraded staircase leads from the entrance foyer to an unusually spacious saloon lit by the three large first floor windows. The elaboration of the exterior is not, unfortunately, fully matched in the auditorium - it was originally, but a serious fire occurred eight months after the opening and presumably funds were not available for a complete restoration. The fronts of the two deep balconies are, however, decorated with plasterwork incorporating military motifs, and the large boxes flanking each side of the proscenium at dress circle level have canopies with two projecting ships lanterns. Plain, domed ceiling. Unusually the stalls is crossed by a tunnel. After a period of use for bingo, the theatre was courageously reopened as a private commercial venture in 1978, despite the proposal of the Local Authority to build the new Theatre Royal (which opened in 1982). The building, however reverted to bingo use, later a nightclub. Nightclub use finally ceased in 2006 and the building has remained unused since then.

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• Other names
  New Palace Theatre of Varieties, Dance Academy, Academy Disco
• Events
  • 1898 - 1983 Use:
  • 1898 Design/Construction:
    • Wimperis & Arber - Architect
  • 1898 Owner/Management: Livermore Brothers, owners
  • 1906 Alteration: improved; sliding roof installed (architect unknown).
  • 1912 Owner/Management: Thomas Hoyle, succeeded by his wife
  • 1945 Owner/Management: Saul Samuel Silver
  • 1954 Alteration: improved (architect unknown).
  • 1961 Owner/Management: Corporation; Palace Theatre (Bingo) Ltd, lessees
  • 1965 Owner/Management: Arthur Fox
  • 1965 Owner/Management: Star Bingo
  • 1975 Owner/Management: EMI (who bought Star)
  • 1978 Owner/Management: John Redgrave
• Capacities
  • Original: 1610
  • Later: 1945: 1408
• Listings
  • Grade II*
• Dimensions
  • Building dimensions: Building: 24.7m X 44.8m
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 28ft Width: 60ft
  • Proscenium width: 29ft 6in
  • Height to grid: 58ft