The original Palace Theatre was built in 1898, and was designed by architect William Arber, of Wimperis & Arber of London, and cost a total of £95,000 to build.
It ran as a variety theatre until a fire in its first year of operation - the story goes that a police officer was passing the theatre early in the morning of the 23rd of December 1898, and noticed that there was a fire inside the building, and immediately contacted the fire brigade, though by this time it was too late; the rear section of the building was already well alight, and the area containing the dressing rooms and stage had been destroyed. The safety curtain had not been lowered either, resulting in the partial destruction of the auditorium and its decorative features.
It is thought that the fire was caused by the heat from a cannon that had been used in a performance the night before setting alight to a curtain.
The theatre was rebuilt and opened in 1899.
Over the years, the theatre changed hands many times and saw various uses including use as a bingo hall, a strip club, a club in the circle bar, and regular theatre uses in between.
In more recent times, the building was used as a nightclub and dance venue, under the name - "The Dance Academy".
The owner, Mr. Manoucehr Bahmanzadeh acquired the building in 1997, ran it as The Dance Academy until its closure in 2006, when the business was subject to a police investigation into the sale of illicit drugs inside the venue. The story goes much deeper, and is much more complex than that, though - have a read here if you're interested:
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/full-story-dance-academy-closure-431775
I know this place has been done before by various people, but we thought it would be best if it were posted in here.
Visited with @AndyK and @Terminal Decline
Staircase inside the main entrance lobby -
The beautiful circle bar, looks good even with the slight makeover -
A bar inside the auditorium at circle level -
Auditorium -
Upper circle before we found the lights -
Circle -
Stalls -
Facing out from the stage -
Apologies for the lack of content - I thought I had a load more images than this.
Hope this is enough, cheers
It ran as a variety theatre until a fire in its first year of operation - the story goes that a police officer was passing the theatre early in the morning of the 23rd of December 1898, and noticed that there was a fire inside the building, and immediately contacted the fire brigade, though by this time it was too late; the rear section of the building was already well alight, and the area containing the dressing rooms and stage had been destroyed. The safety curtain had not been lowered either, resulting in the partial destruction of the auditorium and its decorative features.
It is thought that the fire was caused by the heat from a cannon that had been used in a performance the night before setting alight to a curtain.
The theatre was rebuilt and opened in 1899.
Over the years, the theatre changed hands many times and saw various uses including use as a bingo hall, a strip club, a club in the circle bar, and regular theatre uses in between.
In more recent times, the building was used as a nightclub and dance venue, under the name - "The Dance Academy".
The owner, Mr. Manoucehr Bahmanzadeh acquired the building in 1997, ran it as The Dance Academy until its closure in 2006, when the business was subject to a police investigation into the sale of illicit drugs inside the venue. The story goes much deeper, and is much more complex than that, though - have a read here if you're interested:
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/full-story-dance-academy-closure-431775
I know this place has been done before by various people, but we thought it would be best if it were posted in here.
Visited with @AndyK and @Terminal Decline
Staircase inside the main entrance lobby -
The beautiful circle bar, looks good even with the slight makeover -
A bar inside the auditorium at circle level -
Auditorium -
Upper circle before we found the lights -
Circle -
Stalls -
Facing out from the stage -
Apologies for the lack of content - I thought I had a load more images than this.
Hope this is enough, cheers
:
