The Stage

Aberdeen theatre on track for restoration grant

Published Tuesday 6 July 2010 at 14:17 by Matthew Hemley

A listed theatre in Aberdeen that has fallen into disrepair and has not been used as a performance venue since the sixties could be restored, after being identified as a “priority project” for lottery and other funding.

The Tivoli Theatre, which opened in 1872 and closed in 1997 - by which time it was only used as a bingo hall - is set to receive funding of up to £520,000 from Aberdeen’s Green Township Heritage Initiative (THI).

The initiative is a partnership that includes Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen City Heritage, which has secured £1.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund aimed at regenerating an area known as the Green, in which the theatre is situated.

Brian Hendry, a local businessman, purchased the theatre last July, and is hoping to restore both its exterior and interior, providing it with new rehearsal spaces, dressing rooms and a theatre museum.

According to the Green THI, Hendry’s plans have met the condition of “demonstrating a realistic prospect of a viable re-use of the building”.

John Stewart, chairman of the Green THI board, said: “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.”

Hendry said the first stage in his three-stage plan for the venue was to secure the building last year.

“Stage two was to save the building, which we are now entering. Once the external works are completed we will enter stage three, which will be the restoration and development of the internal part of the Tivoli, to make it a top-class mixed-use venue that the city can be proud of,” he said.