Peter
Surcombe 01803 208860 9 June 2004
Palace Theatre’s
£1.5-million Lottery bid
Torbay Council has submitted a £1.5-million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the renovation of Paignton’s Palace Theatre.
The project is the result of
extensive consultation with the Friends of the Palace Theatre and all current
users of the building, as well as with the wider community.
It will retain and enhance
the importance heritage value of the Palace Theatre as an amateur and
professional arts venue.
If the bid is successful it will, for the first time, make the whole building fully accessible to everyone, with a new entrance and ticket office at the north end of Palace Avenue.
The facilities will be completely upgraded to meet modern standards and a lift will be introduced to link all levels of the building.
There will be a new
multi-purpose performance space in the old badminton hall with its own
entrance. The dance studio in the
basement will also have its own entrance so that it can operate independently
from the main auditorium, and will include a heritage suite which will expand
the range of activities based on the culture and performing arts of Paignton in
the past.
The auditorium is to be
completely refitted with new raked seating between the stage and the
gallery. The bar will be extended and
refurbished in the style of the late lamented Deller’s Café, and a new Foyer
Café will be extended across the front with an open terrace overlooking Palace
Avenue Gardens
Advice from the Heritage Lottery Fund had been used in developing this bid. It has been helpful that the HLF has set up an office at Exeter to encourage new applications in the South West Region.
Work has already started on the Gardens where Torbay Council is working with the Palace Avenue Guardians Group to make significant improvements to its attractiveness. It is hoped that it will be possible eventually to create a new link from the Theatre across Palace Avenue into theGardens where an open-air amphitheatre would be developed for outdoor performances and exhibitions.
Councillor Colin Charlwood, Torbay Council’s Heritage Champion, said: “The Palace Theatre is the centrepiece of the Old Paignton Conservation Area, and has moved to the top of the list of Torbay’s heritage priorities now that the Torre Abbey restoration project is underway.
This is a very exciting time for this old area of Paignton which has been revitalised over the last four years by the Torbay Council-led Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme. This has been developed in partnership with English Heritage and the local community of traders and residents. The Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme has resulted in over £6-million of investment in this part of Paignton, and the restoration of the theatre will be the icing on the cake
“The Theatre is the last major project under the HERS scheme and has already been offered £80,000 by English Heritage.
“Match funding of approximately £800,000 has been provided by Torbay Council, and an additional £200,000 will be sought from the Arts Council.”
Richard Bearne, Chairman of the Friends of the Palace Theatre, said: “The Friends of the Palace Theatre has a membership of 1,000 who are fully committed to seeing this wonderful old theatre rejuvenated and revitalised.
“We are actively engaged in raising £75,000 towards this exciting project. We appreciate that councillors and Council officers have fully involved us in determining the priorities for the building and we wholeheartedly support the proposals.”