Kirkgate: The Palace Theatre (origionaly a Music Hall)
Details
| Deposited Plan Number: | no data |
| Date: | 1909 (became the Palace in 1919) |
| Plans Register: | no data |
| Street: | Kirkgate |
| Property Name / Number: | The Palace Theatre (now Shout! night club), No 30 |
| Area: | Town Centre, HD1 1QJ |
| District: | Kirklees |
| Town: | Huddersfield |
| Grid Reference: | SE 1465 1674 |
| Building Project: | The Palace Theatre (origionaly a Music Hall) |
| Type: | Public |
| Applicant: | Horsfall & Sons |
| Applicant Address: | no data |
| Architect: | no data |
| Architect Address: | no data |
| Status of Project: | no data |
| Contractor: | no data |
| Contractor Address: | no data |
| Work Commenced: | no data |
| Work Completed: | no data |
| Occupants: | no data |
| Subsequent Alterations / History: | Existing. Rebuilt after a fire in January 1936, re-opened 1937. Converted into a night club. |
| English Heritage Listing: | no data |
| Location of Archives: | no data |
| Buildings of Huddersfield ID: | 4062 |
Additional Information
The Palace Theatre, Huddersfield was originally built as a Music Hall by Horsfall & Sons with decorations by J. Binns & Sons of Halifax. The Theatre, which had a bioscope box included in its design, opened in 1909 and had an auditorium with a capacity of 1,614, with an unusual Pit area which was more steeply raked than the Stalls. The stage was 30 foot deep by 60 foot wide and the fly tower was fitted with 28 hemp lines.
In January of 1936 the interior of the Theatre was completely destroyed by fire but by the Easter of the following year, 1937, it had been rebuilt, this time by Roland Satchwell and Ernst Roberts. The new Facade was built in a slightly similar design to the original but overall the exterior remains much unchanged from it's earliest inception. The new auditorium was built on three levels, Stalls, Dress Circle, and Upper Circle, and there was an orchestra pit, full stage and fly tower, and 9 dressing rooms.
In 1959 the Theatre was converted into a cabaret theatre and then in 1969 an inevitable Bingo conversion took place. Bingo ran in the building for many years but in 1997 the building was converted by the HSB partnership, into a Chicago Rock Cafe and nightclub by boarding over the orchestra pit, leveling the stalls to stage level, and adding a mezzanine level. The Dress Circle and Upper Circle were left intact however, and the fly tower and grid still remain. The dressing rooms were bricked up but so much of the building remains in its 1937 form that given the will it could be converted back into a Theatre again in the future.
It is possible that The Huddersfield Palace is one of only two surviving works of Roland Satchwell and Ernst Roberts. The other survivor being The Alexandra in Birmingham which is still operating and was built on a larger scale.
In 2010 the building is under threat of total demolition due to Phase 2 of the Kingsgate shopping centre construction plans which have been on hold for some time due to the recession. However, the Theatre is unlisted despite advise from the Theatres Trust, and its future looks bleak. See this article for more information.
(Extract from the website http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/HuddersfieldTheatres.htm)