Last-ditch attempt to save derelict Plymouth theatre

A new campaign has been launched to save a Victorian theatre building in Plymouth.

The Palace Theatre on the city's Union Street was first opened in 1898 as a music hall, before re-opening as the New Palace Theatre of Varieties in 1899 following a fire.

In more recent times it has been a bingo hall, a theatre and finally a nightclub. It closed to the public in 2006.

The Grade-II* listed building was put on the Theatre Trust's 'at risk' list 14 years ago and has continued to decline, despite several attempts to save it.

The campaign is calling on the building's owners to carry out emergency repairs in order to halt its further decline.

Campaign supporter Oliver Colvile, former MP for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, said: “The Palace is in desperate need of emergency repairs and I support any initiative that will bring this beautiful building back into our cultural and civic life again.”

The building's current owner is Manoucehr Bahmanzadeh. Last year, Plymouth MP Luke Pollard unsuccessfully called on Bahmanzadeh to either renovate the Palace or sell it to someone who would.