King's Theatre

Originally opened as the King’s Theatre in 1904, the building became a cinema in 1928. The ashlar sandstone street front and end wall of the original 1904 buildings still survive. There is a projecting corner turret with dome. The interior was once similar to Swanston's magnificent King's Theatre in Edinburgh, but was gutted in 1937 to be rebuilt in streamlined cinema mode, later converted to three screens. Some of the original theatre wall decoration has been preserved behind later alterations. Cinema use ceased prior to Christmas 2000. In 2004, Fife Council granted planning permission for the conversion of the building into a pub and performance venue but listed building consent for internal and external decorations was later withdrawn. In September 2005, the Commercial Pub Company sold the building which remained empty and suffering from a lack of maintenance. The King’s Theatre Community Trust was created in August 2015 to ensure its survival. Using social media and crowdfunding to raise money, they announced plans to return the three former cinema screens to one large auditorium that could host an audience of between 1,750 and 2,000. Fundraising and a grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund have enabled an in-depth structural report, a full building and evaluation survey, and a planning pre-application. The group, now called Kings Theatre Kirkcaldy Ltd secured the freehold of the building in August 2016 and has since made the building weathertight, cleared debris from inside with the support of local volunteers, carried out temporary roof repairs over the main theatre auditorium to prevent further water ingress and deterioration of the fabric. Progress is positive but there is still a long way to go before the future of the building is secured. The group continues to fundraise to realise its ambition to restore and fully reopen the building as a performing arts venue.