Summer Theatre (Shanklin)

• Theatre ID
  1297
• Built / Converted
  1921
• Dates of use
  • 1921 - 1938
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  converted to other use (amusement arcade)
• Address
  Esplanade, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, England

Details

In 1919, the wooden stage and tented pavilion used by Powis Pinder at Millers Green was destroyed by fire. Messrs Simmonds brought a sea-plane hangar from Bembridge, and reconstructed it on a site on the Esplanade (about the same time the Bognor Pavilion (dem) was created from a similar hangar). It opened in 1921 as The Summer Theatre. The interior was fitted out as a concert pavilion with platform stage and proscenium. It was the big success in the 1920s and 1930s on the Island. During World War II, it was requisitioned as storage in connection with ‘PLUTO’ (Pipe Line Under The Ocean). It was also badly damaged. It later reopened as an amusement arcade, and survives in that form.

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• Events
  • 1921 - 1938 Use:
  • 1921 Design/Construction: existing building relocated
    • Messrs Simmonds - Architect
  • 1938 Alteration: converted to store
    • Unknown - Architect
  • Alteration: n.d. converted to amusement arcade
    • Unknown - Architect
  • Owner/Management: Mrs G E Taylor, owner of land
  • Owner/Management: Powis Pinder, owner of theatre, lessee of site
  • 1938 - 1945 Owner/Management: MOD (requisitioned)
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed