History
The palace Theatre opened in 1898 as a music hall and was built in the Flemish Renaissance style, with the interior in an Art Nouveau style, with nautical features but was damaged by fire only three months after opening .
The theatre was rebuilt after the fire and was re-opened on 22 May 1899 as the new palace theatre of varieties.
Although the interior was now much plainer than it had been originally. The paintings on the ceiling which had been destroyed in the fire were replaced by "an allegorical group"
In 1961 it was converted in to a bingo hall, but later reverted to being a theatre until 1983, when it became the academy disco and finally operated as a night club called " Dance Academy "
Dance Academy years
Manoucehr Bahmanzadeh acquired the building in 1997 and renamed it " Dance Academy".
It soon became one of the top dance venues in the UK attracting big name D'JS in dance music.
He ran it untill 2006 untill its forced closure following a police raid.
The club could accommodate 1,300 dancers in two rooms and had seven bars and "gained a heady reputation" as 1 of the best clubs in the south west under resident D.J., Tom Costelloe.
By 2005, the club claimed that it had in excess of 20,000 members.
Closure
On May 7th 2006, following a five-month long intelligence-led operation in Plymouth which "uncovered significant and widespread class A drug misuse and violence associated with the nightclub" - according to the then Chief Superintendent Morris Watts around 140 officers raided the venue as they executed a closure order made by Plymouth City Council's antisocial behaviour unit.
The council and police claimed the Dance Academy was rife with Class A drugs purportedly linked to the dance-music culture the club promoted.
The Explore
Have been wanting to get in here for a while so last month we decided to head down to devon for a few explores.
Getting in and out of here isnt easy but it was well worth it!.
I always remember hearing this place being mentioned on Dance Anthems On Radio 1 back at the start of the millennium so it was quite a shock to see a once thriving club/ theatre in such a bad way.
Hopefully one day this place will re open.
A packed Dance Academy back in the day
A smug Looking copper serving the closure order
A room with a nice view!
The main bar
So this was aparantly called the blue room
The main stairs in to the building. clutter stacked up in front of the doors, probably to stop breakins
I didnt wear a hard hat!
Looking towards the old stage. The dance floor was a bit sketchy in places
The cealing in here is just stunning
And to finish.. some externals
The palace Theatre opened in 1898 as a music hall and was built in the Flemish Renaissance style, with the interior in an Art Nouveau style, with nautical features but was damaged by fire only three months after opening .
The theatre was rebuilt after the fire and was re-opened on 22 May 1899 as the new palace theatre of varieties.
Although the interior was now much plainer than it had been originally. The paintings on the ceiling which had been destroyed in the fire were replaced by "an allegorical group"
In 1961 it was converted in to a bingo hall, but later reverted to being a theatre until 1983, when it became the academy disco and finally operated as a night club called " Dance Academy "
Dance Academy years
Manoucehr Bahmanzadeh acquired the building in 1997 and renamed it " Dance Academy".
It soon became one of the top dance venues in the UK attracting big name D'JS in dance music.
He ran it untill 2006 untill its forced closure following a police raid.
The club could accommodate 1,300 dancers in two rooms and had seven bars and "gained a heady reputation" as 1 of the best clubs in the south west under resident D.J., Tom Costelloe.
By 2005, the club claimed that it had in excess of 20,000 members.
Closure
On May 7th 2006, following a five-month long intelligence-led operation in Plymouth which "uncovered significant and widespread class A drug misuse and violence associated with the nightclub" - according to the then Chief Superintendent Morris Watts around 140 officers raided the venue as they executed a closure order made by Plymouth City Council's antisocial behaviour unit.
The council and police claimed the Dance Academy was rife with Class A drugs purportedly linked to the dance-music culture the club promoted.
The Explore
Have been wanting to get in here for a while so last month we decided to head down to devon for a few explores.
Getting in and out of here isnt easy but it was well worth it!.
I always remember hearing this place being mentioned on Dance Anthems On Radio 1 back at the start of the millennium so it was quite a shock to see a once thriving club/ theatre in such a bad way.
Hopefully one day this place will re open.
A packed Dance Academy back in the day
A smug Looking copper serving the closure order
A room with a nice view!
The main bar
So this was aparantly called the blue room
The main stairs in to the building. clutter stacked up in front of the doors, probably to stop breakins
I didnt wear a hard hat!
Looking towards the old stage. The dance floor was a bit sketchy in places
The cealing in here is just stunning
And to finish.. some externals
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