Page 19 - Palace Memories Gerald Jervis

Palace Theatre Memories Redditch Heritage

I had previously had a longish letter inserted in the “Indicator”, drawing attention to
what the town was losing, and now the Drama Festival committee called a meeting, in
the Council Chamber, to discuss the matter. A scheme was drawn up to run the
theatre experimentally for a year as a sort of town hall. This however needed a few
hundred pounds of subsidy in view of the state of the building. The appropriate
committee of the R.U.D.C. turned it down by one vote.

The building then passed into the hands of a sports promoter, who tore out the stage
and put in a roller-skating rink. Of its subsequent career of 17 or 18 years I cannot
speak from first hand, as I never set foot in it again, not even to see my genial friends
of the Redditch Revelers, who kept the flag of live entertainment flying occasionally.

The story of the Development Corporation`s offer to restore the building and present
it to the town, including a precarious moment which led to one of the most willingly
signed petitions I have ever heard of, is too recent to go over. The building is now
more splendid that it has ever been and furthermore can be run without the fatal
necessity of having to over-supply the public with entertainment in order to keep open
at all. Long may it serve the town.

Colin Wheeler and Gerald Jervis - In their own words

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