Palace

Opened as the New Palace Theatre & Hippodrome. It became a cinema in the 1930s and a bingo hall in 1964. The auditorium, never particularly attractive, was mutilated by the removal of boxes and of the plasterwork from the fronts of the two balconies. It is otherwise intact, however, and could be restored without too much difficulty. The capacity would be approximately 1,100 if reseated. The balconies (the upper one now blanked off by a false ceiling) have eight rows each and curve round slightly to meet the splayed walls where the boxes (one either side) originally were. The boxes were treated rather like those at Darlington Civic by the same architect. The panelled ceiling and rectangular proscenium, where visible, retain their Baroque plasterwork but the upper part of the proscenium is now concealed.

The exterior is little altered, apart from the ground floor and entrance canopy. The main front, in brick with stone dressings, is an asymmetrical composition in an odd mixture of Edwardian Baroque and Arts and Crafts. To the left, on the corner, is a four-storied square tower with rusticated base and quoins and a pyramidal roof crowned by a cupola. To the right is a three-storied, stubby 'tower' which is actually a little lower in height than the rest of the front. The entrance, in the middle, is marked by two narrow, slightly projecting turrets with little domes, flanking a wide central bay with curved parapet and a broad elliptically-arched window at first floor level. Plain brick side elevation, relieved only by blank arcading.

The Palace was in full bingo use from 1977 to 1997 and is now a nightclub, with much of the theatre interior closed off.

This building makes an important statement within the cultural quarter of the town and, despite its present apparently bleak prospects, it is an asset which should be exploited, rather than neglected.