Curtain to rise again at historic theatre

A LANDMARK theatre is to take centre stage again after being awarded more than £500,000 towards its refurbishment.

• The Tivoli in the early twenteith century

The Tivoli Theatre in Aberdeen's Guild Street is earmarked as a priority project for the city's Green Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI).

The 450-seat theatre once played host to top Scottish acts including Harry Lauder, Andy Stewart and the White Heather Club but has not been used as a performance venue since the 1960s. It was latterly used as bingo hall before closing in 1997.

But yesterday, it was announced the Tivoli Theatre Management Company had been awarded a 508,700 grant from the Green THI for building repairs and reinstatement of architectural details to the exterior of the dilapidated Grade-A listed building.

John Stewart, the Green board chairman, said: "This is a really exciting step forward for the Green Townscape Heritage Initiative and for Aberdeen. For many years now, people have been calling for the Tivoli Theatre to be brought back to life and today marks a huge step forward in achieving that."

The Tivoli, originally called Her Majesty's Opera House, opened in December 1872 and is regarded as an outstanding and rare, near intact example of a Victorian theatre. It was the product of two renowned theatre architects, CJ Phipps and Frank Matcham, and the interior has been described as one of the best remaining examples of Matcham's work in the UK. It closed in 1906, after the opening of His Majesty's Theatre nearby, and re-opened in 1910, when its name was changed to the Tivoli.

Since closing, it has fallen into serious disrepair and been placed on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. It was bought by local businessman Brian Hendry, chairman of the Tivoli Theatre Management Company, in July 2009.

Over the next three years, he proposes to restore the interior and bring it up to 21st-century standards, providing a mid-scale 450-seat auditorium with new rehearsal spaces, dressing rooms, dance studios/gymnasium, theatrical museum and caf/bar, with additional retail, leisure and business spaces. The overall cost of the project has yet to be made public.

Mr Hendry said: "I'm delighted that we can now start work. The priority will be to get the scaffolding up and start to clean the gutters and roof to protect the Tivoli for the winter.

"Hopefully, people in Aberdeen will start to see changes over the coming weeks and months as we start bringing this great building back to its former glory."

Yesterday's announcement is another major step for the Green THI project, which aims to completely regenerate the historic area between Union Street and Guild Street, from Shiprow to Bridge Street, including the Adelphi, the Green, and Market Street, over the next three to five years.

The Green THI is a partnership between Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen City Heritage Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.