Last night, just a few people turned up for a public meeting at the Eagle Inn to Save The Victoria Theatre. They heard that there's now a hole in the roof which is letting in water, threatening the Grade II listed building, opened in 1900 and closed as a bingo hall in 2007.
Despite being used recently as a cannabis farm, and despite Salford Council removing and then 'losing' its canopy, the old theatre is 'remarkably intact', the Salford Victoria Theatre Trust activists explained.
Projections of photos taken of the interior showed loads of original features, which could be transformed into a new theatre, cinema and community facility to host courses and apprenticeships.
The building was originally on the market for £275,000 but the price has now dropped to around £175,000. As a Grade II listed building, the Victoria Theatre isn't too valuable – if something was to 'happen to it' and it had to be demolished the land would be worth a fortune to developers. Which makes it all the more urgent that something is done quickly to safeguard its future.
Salford Council's latest 'Local Plan' states that the building will be protected, "securing its positive reuse, preferably for a community use in keeping with its original function and design"*, but actions from the Council have been few, the meeting heard.
"We have made a connection with the Mayor and he has been supportive in principal" said Sam Kelly of the Trust "I get the impression that if there was more they could do they would but they've got a lot of people to please and we're fairly low on the priority list. So we need the community to get on board and make a big noise about it and force the Council to take note."
Back in 2012, a well attended public meeting heard original proposals for the Theatre but the campaign split with many local people walking away, believing they wouldn't get a genuine voice in the process, and that it was a kind of front for a Salford University takeover. However, the meeting heard that anyone can get involved on the organising committee, and that the idea a University takeover was 'a bit of a myth'...
"Unfortunately that was a bit of misinformation" explained Sam, who was herself brought up in Lower Broughton, where her mum worked a machinist "Some of the people involved in the group worked at the University but there was no formal affiliation and they've never been involved at all.
"If anyone who formally wants to join the group we would be very happy to have them on board" she added "What we need is anyone with energy and a bit of spare time because the more people we have involved the more we can organise. It is difficult at the minute to keep up with everything. We need more people on board and would appreciate any skills that anyone can give."
Those attending last night included people who run Salford history Facebook groups and a person who actually used to work at the Victoria Theatre and brought along the original opening programme from 1900 plus loads of photos of lavish Salford Amateur Operatic Society productions.
Talks have already been held with an array of funding and architectural bodies, including the Theatres Trust which has the Victoria Theatre down as third on its 'At Risk' Register, while a proposal is to be put before the East Salford Community Committee's next meeting in September.
There's all sorts of stuff to do to secure the building's future, including a viability report (parking, transport links, renovation etc), but this project could be incredibly near reality – if the community gets on board and supports it.
"We've got lots of ideas but we need more people to campaign and give it publicity" said Sam.
As Lower Broughton is handed more and more to developers and bulldozers, the Victoria Theatre is the one Grade II listed gem they cannot touch. It's up to the community to decide if they want to save it.
A further public meeting is to be held in Lower Broughton in the near future...
For further details and to get involved see the Save Victoria Theatre Salford Facebook group – click here
See the website www.savevictoria.co.uk or email salfordvictoria@hotmail.co.uk
* Salford Council Local Plan for the Next 20 Years – click here
For a full background see previous Salford Star articles on Victoria Theatre – click here and click here
Main photo by Matt Holmes
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