Swansea people have been allowed a glimpse inside a historic old city theatre which is slowly being revived thanks to multi-million pound transformation works. Step by step, The Palace Theatre in High Street, is becoming a home for tech, start-up and creative businesses.
Newly released images show the progress inside the building, where sensitive internal strip-out and demolition works have been taking place. Behind plaster that is being removed, workers have found numerous blocked up doorways and discovered an orchestra pit in front of the stage. They have also found "some beautiful but worse for wear looking original fittings such as gas lamps and fire exit signs".
The 134-year-old grade two listed building is being transformed by R&M Williams Limited on behalf of Swansea Council, which bought the six-storey flatiron-shaped building from private owners around two years ago, saving the building after it had fallen into disrepair and was in danger of being lost. It came after the authority secured a grant of just under £5 million. You can read everything we know about the transformation works by clicking here. And you can also get more great Swansea stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
READ MORE: The treasured Swansea building, its amazing past and the uncertainty it has faced
Work began on site in the autumn and the building could re-open next year. The project is being assisted with funding from the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme. The council has appointed Tramshed Tech as the lead tenant to run the building.
The venue first threw open its doors in the 18th century, starting life as a traditional music hall in 1888 as the Pavilion Theatre of Varieties. It was designed by local architect Alfred Bucknall, who also designed Craig Y Nos Castle in the Swansea Valley, of Bucknall and Jennings, and cost just under £10,000.
There were all sorts of acts, not just music, including acrobats, goats and dancing bears. An elephant even performed on the stage after it was lifted in using a piano-hoist. Things changed in 1892 when it was renamed The Empire and leased to Adelaide Stoll and her son Oswald, who went on to open the new Empire in Oxford Street in 1900. The legendary Charlie Chaplin appeared on stage there in 1897, a year after the first moving pictures were shown to audiences at the theatre.
From 1961 onwards, the building went through yet more incarnations, including as a bingo hall and gay club. In 2009, the Palace was listed in the 2009 Theatre Buildings at Risk Register, which highlights venues that have been abandoned or are suffering neglect. It was also on a short list of 46 which were facing an immediate threat to their future, and were said to be at high risk.
