Palace (Huddersfield)

• Theatre ID
  2883
• Built / Converted
  1909
• Dates of use
  • 1937 - 1957: 1959-62
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Licensed premises (Chicago Rock Café and nightclub)
• Address
  Kirkgate, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England

Details

The Chicago Rock Caféightclub has been constructed largely within the auditorium and stage of the 1937 rebuild of the Palace Theatre (1909). The Huddersfield Palace of 1909 was a music hall in the best tradition built to the designs of Horsfall & Sons and decorated with panache by J Binns & Sons of Halifax. The original façe was in three bays of three storeys, the narrower outer bays being treated as towers rising one storey above the centre, the left hand tower having a steep slated roof, the right hand with a rather under-sized copper drum and dome. The facings were brick with stone dressings with an iron canopy across the full width of the front. A queue shelter returned on the right hand flank. The auditorium had the peculiar feature of a pit area substantially steeper in rake than the stalls. A bioscope box was included in the design. This building was internally destroyed by fire in January 1936 and was rebuilt for reopening at Easter 1937. The faience- faced front of 1937 faintly echoes the original, being also in three bays, the centre with a group of four tall windows over the entrance, extending up to a deep cornice projection with a blind attic above. The right hand bay is slightly advanced, rising as a stubby tower with little knobs suggesting battlements. Despite the change of use and the filling in of the tall windows, the present exterior is comparatively little altered. The auditorium is now flat floored and dominated by a central bar with seating at the sides and at mezzanine level. However, it is reported that the dress circle is still seated and the upper circle untouched apart from the removal of seats. The stage has been opened out but the fly galleries remain, as does the grid. The orchestra pit has been boarded over and the dressing rooms bricked up (originally seven single and two chorus dressing rooms). Although a return to theatre use is unlikely following the development of the Lawrence Batley Theatre, sufficient of the 1937 rebuild remains to suggest this would not be entirely impossible. The fact that the building is on an island site adjacent to a major shopping and commercial development with good car parking provision is a considerable advantage.

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• Other names
  Palace Continental, Gala Bingo, by Chicago Rock Café
• Events
  • 1937 - 1957 Use: 1959-62
  • 1909 Design/Construction:
    • T Edwin Ellis and Edgar Horsfall of Horsfall & Sons - Architect
  • 1937 Alteration: rebuilt after fire
    • Roland Satchwell - Architect
  • 1959 Alteration: converted to cabaret theatre
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1969 Alteration: converted to bingo
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1997 Alteration: converted to nightclub
    • HSB Partnership - Architect
  • 1909 Design/Construction:
    • Wadsworth & Sons - Consultant: Carpentry And Joinery
    • Bould & Sons - Consultant: Plumbing And Heating
    • Rushworth & Firth - Consultant: Slaters And Plasterers
    • Ewart & Sons - Consultant: Copper Dome
    • Braby & Co - Consultant: Zinc Work
    • Veritas - Consultant: Electric Light Fittings
    • O C Knight - Consultant: Electric Installation
    • Jonas Binns & Sons - Consultant: Fibrous Plasterwork, Decorating And Paintings
    • H Lazarus & Sons - Consultant: Seating, Curtains, Etc
    • Millward & Barker - Consultant: Ornamental Glass And Awnings
    • James Allen Senior & Son - Consultant: Ironwork For Awnings
    • Baxter & Granger - Consultant: Carpets And Lino
    • Pilkington - Consultant: Wall Tiles
    • Diespeker - Consultant: Mosaic Floors
    • Holroyd Co - Consultant: Fire Curtain
    • Mather & Platt - Consultant: Armoured Doors
    • Oates & Green - Consultant: Sanitary Appliances
  • 1909 - 1957 Owner/Management: McNaghten Vaudeville Circuit
  • 1962 Owner/Management: Gala
  • 1997 Owner/Management: Luminar Leisure
• Capacities
  • Original: 1614 (214 stalls; 500 pit; 400 dc; 500 gallery)
  • Later: 1946: 1111 or 1211? (294 or 394 stalls; 199 pit; 356 dc; 262 gallery)
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed
• Stage type
  • Proscenium flat
• Dimensions
  • Building dimensions: 1909 aud curtain to rear of pit 69ft, w 51ft
  • Stage dimensions: 1909 d: 30ft w: 60ft 1937 d: 27ft 6in walls between fly galleries 40ft
  • Proscenium width: 1909: 30ft 1937: 33ft 6in
  • Height to grid: 1909: 48ft (flies 24ft) 1937: 51ft 6in 28 hemp lines
  • Orchestra pit: Original