Take a look inside one of Britain's very first large buildings with electric lights following recently completed work to restore and convert it into premium apartments. Pictures show how part of the former Theatre Royal in Chatham High Street looks following an extensive project to turn the disused building into three luxury apartments - which are on sale for £400,000 each. The ground floor of the 1899-built Theatre Royal is also set to become a small restaurant. As a Grade II-listed building, all of the old theatre's architectural features have been retained and restored to preserve its 122-year-old historic character, including an original staircase inside. In a listing of the new apartments on its website, estate agents Haart said: "Whilst retaining and respecting the charm and character of such a stunning building, the interior has undergone major renovations in recent months to create a collection of bespoke, luxury apartments like never seen before. "From original cornices, feature stained glass windows and beautiful staircases, the cohesion between modern luxury and generations of character is magnificent." Some of the spacious rooms inside the premium-priced apartments also boast ceilings that are 13ft high and have large arched windows. Plans to convert the former Theatre Royal building into apartments were first revealed in October 2019, which were later approved by Medway Council last spring.
Built in 1899, the local landmark was one of the country's largest buildings to use electric lights at the time and had a capacity of 3,000 seats in its now-demolished auditorium. It played host to some of the biggest names in showbiz at the time, including Charlie Chaplin and Gracie Fields. However, the Theatre Royal was subject to at least three major fires during its lifetime and eventually the curtains fell for the final time in 1955 amid growing competition from the television. A furniture showroom occupied most of the foyer areas in the early 1980s and used the auditorium, whose floor had been levelled in concrete, for storage. When the showroom permanently closed, neglect and vandalism led to even more deterioration. In 1982 the Theatres Trust deemed the theatre to be "probably too far gone to make restoration economically feasible". Throughout the 1980s, a local campaign gained momentum to restore the theatre back to its former glory following a demolition threat. The Theatre Royal Chatham Trust was set up by conservationists in the following decade and acquired tenure of the theatre. They then began to clean, repair and secure the vacant premises. Progress stalled for some years later because the Council held possession of the stage area and showed little appetite to release it to the community. The sudden halt was, however, resolved in 1997 when the new unitary authority, Medway Council, decided to support the Theatre Royal Chatham Trust. It was hoped that this would be a move towards the reopening of Chatham’s only remaining purpose-designed theatre at the time, but costs were estimated to be at least £20 million by 2002 and the project was, in turn, abandoned. In 2004 the old theatre was sold for an undisclosed sum of money. The disused building fell into such a dangerous state of disrepair that the 3,000-seat auditorium was demolished in April 2009 after it collapsed - with just the façade and front of house retained, which stand to this very day and are now occupied by the premium apartments. For an in-depth overview of the history of Chatham's Theatre Royal, visit the Theatres Trust website, the Arthur Lloyd website or the Libervitae online resource. Comments are closed.
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August 2023
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