Empress Theatre Of Varieties

Immediately before demolition the Empress was visibly a mixture of different periods. The carcase of the auditorium and the whole of the stage house were of 1898 by Wylson & Long. The rendered corner tower, in a hard Art Deco manner, belonged to the 1931 reconstruction. The auditorium and other areas were of 1931, slightly altered in the 1950s and later, but still quite presentable. The stage, although finally used only for bingo, was complete. Four storey frontage building (the front of house accommodation seems to have been generous) extended along Brighton Terrace.

Not a great architectural loss (although the tower was of townscape value) but this was a theatre of some potential which could have been returned to operational use (with reduced capacity) at a lower cost than the building of a new theatre - which this area will undoubtedly need in time.