Olympia Picture Palace & Electric Theatre
Foreshore Road,
Scarborough,
YO11 1NU
Foreshore Road,
Scarborough,
YO11 1NU
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Additional Info
Architects: Caleb Petch
Previous Names: Fisheries Exhibition Building, Empire Theatre of Varieties
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Designed by Caleb Petch and opened in 1895 as the Fisheries Exhibition Building, it was within a year used as a sporting hall, and by the turn of the century was known as the Empire Theatre of Varieties.
After a short spell as a roller skating rink it was re-opened by Sydney Carter and Will Catlin (of later Palladium and Futurist fame) as the Olympia Picture Palace and Electric Theatre. It was claimed to have 6,000 seats on the flat floor and three sided balcony.
In 1914 it was shelled by German bombs and closed. Post World War I it was repaired and reopened as a ballroom. It perished in a huge fire in July 1975 and has been replaced with Olympia Amusements.
Contributed by
Ian Grundy
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
I have a diary note that I saw “The Poseidon Adventure” at the Olympia on 9th August 1973. I can remember nothing of this visit, but it does confirm there was some film activity in its later years.
It was here the night it burned down. I saw Diggby the biggest dog in the world. I was six at the time and the next morning it was a smoking pile of ash. There are photos on another website of the aftermath of the fire.