Dramatic revival on cards for derelict Victorian theatre

A BUSINESSMAN'S dream of restoring one of Scotland's best-loved theatres to its former glory is set to take a major step forward later this year.

In the golden age of music hall, everyone from screen legends Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin to George Formby and Jimmy Logan took to the stage of the Tivoli Theatre in Aberdeen.

But it closed as a theatre more than 40 years ago, leaving the Guild Street building, with its imposing Venetian Gothic facade, to be turned into a bingo hall and then fall into decline.

Yesterday it was revealed that the Tivoli is in line for a 520,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund which will ensure the survival of the Grade A listed building.

The Tivoli, built in 1872, has been identified as a priority project as part of the city's Green Townscape Heritage Initiative, a five-year conservation-led scheme aimed at revitalising the Green, part of the medieval heart of the city.

The theatre has been placed on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. But Brian Hendry, the businessman who bought the derelict theatre last July, said the award of the funding, expected to be confimed in September, would allow him to undertake extensive repairs to the external fabric of the building, including the construction of a new roof and making the theatre wind and water proof.

He said: "This grant, I believe, allows me to save the building. Then we go on to the next stage, which is to completely refurbish and redevelop the building. My aim is to make it a top class mixed-use venue that the city can be proud of.

"I am keeping the auditorium and the stage but the other space in the theatre can be anything from dance studios and rehearsal space to a gymnasium or function rooms."

Mr Hendry added: "I believe that the criteria for the grant has been accepted and that it has been recommended for approval.

"And once the building has been made safe I can begin on what will be a 4 million three-year redevelopment to bring the Tivoli back to its former glory."

Mr Hendry, chairman of the Tivoli Theatre Management Company, has spent 400,000 buying the derelict building and carrying out urgent repairs. He revealed he had never visited the theatre while it was open and only bought the Tivoli two weeks after stepping into the auditorium for the first time.

He said: "I came into this building and decided within five minutes that I was going to buy it. I had a vision for its future."

The Green Townscape Heritage Initiative, a partnership involving Aberdeen City Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and Historic Scotland, has been set up to tackle a number of run-down historic buildings in the city.

Venue attracted big stars

The Tivoli first opened in December 1872 as Her Majesty's Opera House.

Designed by renowned Victorian theatre architects, CJ Phipps and Frank Matcham, it was the first large-scale use of concrete in a Scottish theatre building.

The Tivoli was one of Scotland's leading venues in the golden age of music hall, when everyone from George Formby to Stan Laurel to Charlie Chaplin took to its opulent stage.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, home-grown talent such as Jimmy Logan continued to pack the crowds into the theatre, the second oldest in the country.

The late Calum Kennedy brought the curtain down on the Tivoli's days as a music hall and theatre in 1966.

Project manger Graham Young said: "This grand old theatrical lady has enjoyed a rich and colourful history.

"Although she has fallen on hard times in recent years she can now look forward to a new lease of life."

Councillor John Stewart, the leader of Aberdeen City Council and chairman of the Green THI board, added: "The proposals are an imaginative and positive step that will secure the long-term future of this nationally important building which has been at risk for some years."