Dance Academy / New Palace Theatre, Plymouth, July 08

[CHEWY]

Fantastic place

but sofas in a bog?
i wouldn't like to sit on them.
you get all comfy, then somebody coils one out followed by an almighty paaaarp

 

[zimbob]

Fantastic place

but sofas in a bog?
i wouldn't like to sit on them.
you get all comfy, then somebody coils one out followed by an almighty paaaarp

Just what I was thinking

Must be a Southern thing, I was in a boozer on the Isle of Wight that had a table and chairs in the Gents

 

[RichardB]

The toilets in Jackie O in Kirkcaldy used to have a foot and a half of pish with people rolling around it.

 

[escortmad79]

Sounds like Park Lane in Torquay!!

 

[S1MON]

Woah, that is amazing. Always wondered what it was like in there, as was too young when the club was open. Drive past it quite often and always looks in a sorry state.

 

[RAF_Firenat999]

wow! they say the past comes back to bite you!now that does bring back some memories- i worked there as a freestyle choreographed podium dancer (NO! not lap dancing! lol) when i was 18, and it was falling apart then! i remeber being in the ladies once with a few friends when one of the ceiling tiles fell down, we freaked out because it was so close. There were always signs around saying to be careful and temporary botch job repairs! beautfiul place but the best thing to happen to it was to have it closed down... glad i wasn't there that night, i saw a lot of people sadly go down hill in that social scene. Most of the people that went there were also familiar with a nightclub called 'The Monastery' in Torquay, (yes it was a night club built in an old monastery with a dance floor built ontop of the cript! oo eer!), which still stands unused since 2002 that got closed down to and the owner tried to get into a partnership with the owner of The Dance Academy but 'things' came to light and it fell through. it would be nice to restore this place back to its former pre nightclub glory.

 

[RAF_Firenat999]

Sounds like Park Lane in Torquay!!

'Park Lane' Isnt park lane anymore, hasn't been for few years, but another good club i frequented as a door supervisor!

 

[wingman]

Hi everybody.

First off, this is my first post on here, so hello!

Just to let you know that I am a Plymouth lad (35 years old now) and wanted to shair my memories with regards to the Palace Theatre building.

My oldest memories of the building is when I went there to watch some sort of show, Probably a panto. I must of been about 6-7 years old at the time and remember looking up at the ceiling and being really impressed with a quite a large dome in the middle of the ceiling. I also remember all the carvings and wood work all around the building.

Next up, many years later was when the Theatre opened as a nightclub. It was either called 'The Academy' or 'Club Zoo' at the time. I was around 16-17 and wanted to go in their during a night out down Union Street just to see how the place had changed. The stairs walking up to the door that led onto the dancefloor was still the same as I remembered but the dancefloor, where I had sat in a chair all those years before hand, seemed much smaller than I remembered. I did look up at the ceiling, and the dome was still there, although that again, seemed smaller than I remembered. I was still impressed with the building though.

The place closed down then for many years and was left to rot. When I heard that is was re-opening as another club, I went in whilst they were painting and decorating it and managed to have a good look around. Nobody seemed to mind at the time! I did have a good around an area to the left hand side (as you look at it) of the stage, that seemed to be a changing area for the 'stars' going on stage. There was really dodgy wall paper and some of the rooms had baths in them, showers probably not invented then!

I did go in again once it had opened up as the Dance Academy but as I got older, I turned away from the clubbing scene.

Seeing this website has rekindled my interest in the building and would LOVE to be able to get in there again, just to have another look around and to take some pics.

I am now in the RAF, serving in Afghanistan so will not be around Plymouth until the new year, however, any time that anything could be arranged after then, I'M IN!!

OK, guys, all the best,

Chris.

 

[0james0]

Quality work guys! You've been on about it for ages. Bet it was great but strange to be in there. Haunted, by all the old academy souls!

If/ when you get back in, get some shots off the balconies. Can you get up to the cage, right on the top floor? Get some colleseum style shots.

Can't believe that was a bedroom! Would have rather slept in the toilets!!

 

[nadnerb85]

hi am new to the site am from saltash cornwall, used to got to da a lot when it was open, the buzz you got from working up the stairs and on to the dance floor was unreal never felt like that from any other club i go to a lot of clubs but nothing is a good as this one would love to have played there and would love to go back in there so if any one has got some plans to go in let me now

 

[Urban-Warrior]

An amazing site.. would love to go do it sometime.. spent a few of my early raving days there when I lived in Devon

 

[crazyjon]

great pics

fantastic pics of the academy still looks good been in there few times when it was open bangin club.Who ever goes in there next time plz try get some pics of the old malthouse next door and any of the rooms that used to be part of the hotel above all i can remember with the malthouse is in 98 or so mamoush the owner fucked it up when he started to refurbish it and made a right mess of it aparently opening the back of it the old lounge to the hotel to the elements so be prepaired for compleat devastation and our mates the fying rats living in there and shiting every place,good to see some other parts of the building in this set of pics and of the chill out room and offices and some sort of sore rooms hope one day someone gets in the old zanzibar ritzy but on a low key reccy looked well secure like fort knox anyway great site need more pics of plymouth empty buildings and some in cornwall to sugest gyllingdue hotel in falmouth been empty since 99 and been in there myself sadly with no camera great builing cheers j

 

[DancerS]

Great memories

I used to be involved in the DA back when Manouch first purchased the venue in 1997/8 and he made choice to protect a lot of the plasterwork to keep it a feature (like camden palace), we refurbished the blue room (the one that is yellow marble effect) when I was there and which was great fun, and got a lot of the props / branding done during that time.

Did you manage to get into the old changing rooms from when it was a theatre? I used to love that area, really spooky! It doesn't look like you saw where old Mary the ghost jumped from the Gods either. How is the glass dome looking - omg the memories!

The malthouse was completely in pieces when he purchased it, fungi growing out of damp walls from top floor down to 1st, it was really bad. Add to that the fact that both buildings have internal guttering (that is what half of the columns hide) which as you can imagine without being well maintained has caused a lot of the damp / mould problems. In fairness Manouch didn't do anything to further damage either buildings, but with MH I think the money ran out before he got too much of a chance to do anything positive!

PCC have been after the buildings since Manouch first bought them, they even showed him a copy of plans they had drawn up to turn it into an art gallery. I still believe that part of the reason for the tough justice being dealt out to Manouch is that PCC want to remove 'undesirable' clubs etc from Union Street.

 

[thaskitz]

I went in the monastery in torquay regulaly as a clubber
It closed in 2001 and i saw it open in i think it was 2006 or 2007
I allways loved the place and had a vision of it bein a bit like the gym in rocky lol dusty but good to go lol
Not the case in there the dance floor had peeled up and everything was black and rotten and to be honest finished nearly killed me lol
Its totally redevelloped into flats now
Would have loved to see the da and the old warehouse lol
Memories memories lol
Great work lads

 

[thatlizkid]

it makes me so sad everytime i go by, its such an amazing building, i really want to go inside

the shame about doing it up is that there isnt really anything you can turn it into. union street is so scummy no one would want to buy it to turn it into posh flats or anything, mind you there are all those posh new flats beiing built nearby, so maby in the future

i think maby it should be turned into something like exeter pheonix.A resturant and community centre with an AMAZING place to see live bands, i can imagine how atmospheric it would be with the right band, and maby for ameteur theatre productions

its so beautiful outside and in from what i have seen from the pics above, it would be terrible if it isnt used for something so everyone can enjoy it

 

[thatlizkid]

i just found out that its #3 on the theatres trust list of theatre buildings at risk in england

hit this link to see the list: http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/theatre-buildings-at-risk-2009/tbar-2009-england

 

[escortmad79]

Down at my parents house in Devon, I've got a carrier bag full of flyers including loads from Dance Academy, Candystore, Claires (Now Bohemia) & The Mony!

 

[Sexy_Mamma]

lovely pics guys i love the stair pics.

sexy_mamma

 

[strokesboy21]

anyone able to pm me on how to explore this

 

[fuzey]

Local newspaper publishes pictures

Link from The Herald website.

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/danceacademy/Pictures-fading-glory-city-s-Palace-Theatre/article-1266394-detail/article.html