Hippodrome Theatre
Green Lane,
Derby,
DE1 1RT
Green Lane,
Derby,
DE1 1RT
1 person
favorited this theater
Opened as the Hippodrome Theatre on 20th July 1914 with a show named “September Morn”, it was Derby’s premier variety theatre and attracted big name stars over the years. Located on a prime site on the corner of Green Lane and Macklin Street, it was designed by architects Marshall & Tweedy of Newcastle on Tyne, in a lavish Baroque style.
Seating was provided on three levels: 1,000 in the stalls, 550 in the dress circle and 351 in the upper balcony. There are two boxes, one each side of the proscenium opening. The squared proscenium opening is 38 feet wide and 35feet high, it has a stage 40 feet deep and ten dressing rooms.
It was taken over by Associated Theatres (P.A.& D.) Ltd. and was converted into a full time cinema by the addition of a fully equipped projection box being built at the back of the upper balcony. Opening as the Hippodrome Super Cinema on 15th September 1930 with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in “Sunny Side Up”.
In June 1936 it was taken over by County Cinemas circuit and they carried out some modernisation in 1938. This was mainly new projection equipment, stage curtains and a remodelling of the two stage boxes to give a sleeker design. It re-opened on 30th July 1938 with Jon Hall and Dorothy Lamour in “The Hurricane”. County Cinemas were taken over by the Oscar Deutsch owned Odeon Theatres chain and the Hippodrome Super Cinema was then operated by Odeon Theatres until it closed on 28th October 1950 with Valerie Hobson and Stewart Granger in “Blanche Fury”.
It was purchased by Stoll Theatres Ltd. and re-opened as a live theatre on 23rd December 1950 with the pantomime “Dick Whittington and His Cat” starring Billy Walker. The name had reverted back to Hippodrome Theatre and it attracted many famous names back onto its stage. Sadly, the effects of television were affecting audience numbers by the mid-1950’s and good touring shows were not so plentiful, ‘nudie girly’ shows were booked in week after week to keep the theatre going but audiences remained sparse. It closed on 31st January 1959 after a season’s run of the pantomime “Queen of Hearts” starring Jimmy Paige.
It stood empty for three years until it was purchased by Mecca Ltd and converted into a Mecca Bingo Club which opened in 1962. At first occassional ‘one night only’ live shows were held and the projectors were brought back into use when games of ‘Horsey, Horsey’ (betting on numbered horses from secretly filmed races) were part of the evening entertainment. For the past several years it had been operated by Walkers Ltd. of Wakefield and was known as Walkers Bingo Club. The bingo hall closed on 26th January 2007.
On 19th November 1996, the Hippodrome Theatre was designated a Grade II Listed building by English Heritage.
ALERT….The new owner was carrying out ‘remedial work’, following a small fire in February 2008. See comments posted on March 28th 2008 and beyond….
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Latest news
Derby Hippodrome High Court judgement welcomed by The Theatres Trust
10th April 2008
Mhora Samuel, Director of The Theatres Trust attended the High Court hearing held today in London where Derby City Council (the claimant) applied for an injunction to prevent the owner of the Derby Hippodrome (the respondent) from carrying out further demolition of the theatre. In the three and a half hour hearing the owner continued to assert that his experts declared the building was unsafe and required demolition, contrary to the views of the Council and English Heritage who considered that the building was safe to the public on the street and could be saved.
The respondent’s barrister stated that the owner was not required by listed building legislation to preserve the theatre and intended to demolish the building. He raised the issue of asbestos in the safety curtain and that this continued to pose a health and safety risk. The owner wanted to remove it by using a machine to go in and lift it out of the building. He said that the proscenium would not survive this process of removal.
Mhora Samuel said, “I was very concerned to hear that the owner’s approach to making the building safe would result in the loss of the proscenium. I am pleased that the final judgement issued by the court identified that it is a criminal offence to undertake works to a listed building without consent, and that whilst he was not in a position to adjudicate on this matter, the judge did state that advance notice of the works to the roof on the 28 March had not been given to Derby City Council. I now urge the Council to proceed with prosecution and enforcement to have the theatre restored.â€
The view of the judge, Mr Justice Saunders, was that the status quo should be retained until a proper trial could take place but issues of health and safety were serious considerations that needed attention. Faced with ‘two sets of experts diametrically opposed to each other’, both parties agreed to the appointment of an independent expert who would produce a report on the state of the building for a further hearing on the week beginning 21 April. In the meantime the judge ordered that the health and safety issues in the building be kept under close scrutiny by both parties.
Having viewed this Hippodrome Theater in the 1990’s ,then being used as a bingo hall which was in splendid condition, I’m appauled to see what devistation the current owner has wrought upon this fine structure.
On the night of 27th November 2008, the urban explorer group ‘28 Days Later’ managed the get inside the devastated Hippodrome Theatre to record the current status of the building. Here are their amazing photographs:
View link
it gets worse, now Derby council are allowing the “developer” to submit plans to turn the site into a mutli storey car park
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/hippodrome
the irony being that the Hippodrome overlooks a huge derelict hole in the ground that used to be a multi storey car park that was demolished a few years ago (part of which was was formerly the Black Prince Cinema)
Three photographs taken in February 2009, showing the current condition of this Grade II Listed building (with the text of the listing application on the first photo):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/architec/3383166082/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/architec/3383163172/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/architec/3382351999/
As the days pass to months, I see it becoming less likely that Mr Anthony, the owner of the building, will be brought to justice for the vandalism/damage he has caused to this beautiful theatre….Or even restore the building to how it was just over one year ago.
All the laws and legal statutes of the land are in place to protect a building like this, and yet they have been totally flouted by the authorities, Derby City Council and the police, who just stood by and watched the building being torn apart.
A vintage photograph of the Hippodrome Theatre in 1923:
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One year on from Ken’s comment above, and there seems to be little progress on the Hippodrome saga.
Night photo from February 2010 here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4387115668/
Derby city council to REFUSE planning application. Planning meeting on 8th July 2010.
Council force owner to make repairs (just for safety not for making it weather tight sadly)
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quite how they can accept the damage was done accidentally is unbelievable especially with footage of it being done on youtube
Latest news in, the recent appraisal survey has found the vast majority want this Theatre restored. The estimated cost,£15.million