Civic (Barnsley)

• Theatre ID
  2201
• Built / Converted
  1962
• Dates of use
  • 1962 - 1998
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  dark (Multi-purpose hall, closed since 1998 Public hall from 1877)
• Address
  Eldon Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2JL, England

Details

Built in 1877 as a public hall it became the Civic Theatre in 1962, when plans to build an ambitious new arts centre faltered. Ashlar, three-storey, symmetrical façe of three major bays on either side of a centre bay with a tall arched main entrance, above which a triple window completes the rhythm of 1+3+1+(3)+1+3+1 windows. Segmental roundel lucernes above the main modillion cornice. Shops at ground floor. Carved reliefs to the spandrels of the entrance arch, with a portrait head of the patron, Charles Harvey, in a cartouche keystone. Elaborately modelled attic features above, behind which there was originally a tall, pyramidal pavilion roof with flat top and iron crowning balustrade. A flat floored hall at first floor level has a balcony on three sides and a get-in door at the rear. The Civic is in no way comparable with Barnsley’s sole surviving traditional theatre, the Theatre Royal (q.v.) but the opportunity to return the Royal to life having been missed, the Civic is now the best Barnsley can offer and it is, at least, centrally located. Proposals for a major reconstruction of the building (2004) envisaged a variety of uses, in which a proposed 430 seat studio theatre appears to be a rather half-hearted provision for a community that, with a little more determination, could have had a restored, 800+ seat, Walter Emden theatre. A £10 million project was approved in 2006 to convert the building into a creative space for business and retail. The theatre space has been lost, divided horizontally to create a small hall. An outside performance space is planned.

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• Other names
  Public Hall
• Events
  • 1962 - 1998 Use:
  • 1877 Design/Construction: as public hall
    • Hill & Swan (Leeds) - Architect
  • 1962 Alteration: converted to Civic Theatre
    • Unknown - Architect
  • Owner/Management: Barnsley Metropolitan BC
• Capacities
  • Current: 806
• Listings
  • Grade II - 13.1.1986
• Stage type
  • Proscenium, rake 1:16
• Dimensions
  • Proscenium width: 7.32m