A Bit Of History:
The Dance Academy was originally called the New Palace Theater, built for the Livermore brothers in 1898 as a musical hall and a variety theatre. It opened on the same year on Monday the 5th of September with a variety show and had a capacity holding a massive 2500 people.
Unfortunately, there was a serious fire that spread inside on December 23rd 1989. The fire seriously damaged the interior and completely destroying the stage, gallery, changing rooms and the auditorium on the ground floor.
The fire was said to have been sparked by combustibles left from the show that evening and the fireproof curtain had not been shut, allowing the fire the spread rapidly. It was closed from Friday 23rd December 1989 up until Monday 22nd May 1899, the remarkable quick time it took to refurbish the building was due to the fires damage only being internal, making it much easier to restore.
After many years the building was then converted for Bingo in 1961, and was used for this in many years, but was then again refurbished and reopened as a live theatre in 1978.
In 1982 however, the new Theatre Royal opened in Plymouth, which was major blow for the Palace and the revival of live Theatre and closed in 1983.
It was then converted for night club use known as the Academy.
Information found from this website: Theatre's and Halls in Plymouth
End Of The Night Club:
The reason the Dance Academy had to be closed was due to a police raid on 6th May 2006. The raid took place at and about 10 past 1 in the morning when the club was extremely busy on Saturday night. 10 police riot vans were siting in streets surrounding the venue and within no time at all, 140 police officers stormed into the club from every angle to round up the party goers on the dance floor. The police then allowed people to leave and everyone who had drugs on them were allowed to walk free if they put the drugs they had on them in amnesty boxes.
The club promoter Tom Costelloe and venue owner Manoucehr Bahmanzade were both arrested and sentenced 2 years later.
More detailed information can be found here
This is the reason the Dance Academy closed and has been closed since. This seems like such a shame as it could be a great venue and definitely has been that in the past. It used to be one of the grandest buildings in Plymouth and to see it in the state it is now is such a waste.
Potential:
These photos shown below I found by searching Plymouth Dance Academy. The show the great amount of space the building has and how easily it could be transformed back into a place that can be used.
From website: Images
From Website: Images
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