NO-ONE said it was going to be easy, or cheap, but a major revamp of Swansea’s Palace Theatre may end up costing well over double the original estimate.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands the project commissioned by Swansea Council could exceed £17 million compared to an initial £7 million estimate in 2019. The council isn’t commenting on the figures.
The empty grade two-listed building was in a poor condition when the council acquired it from its previous owners, and safe access was limited. Restoring it has been a complex job at a time when construction costs everywhere have risen substantially.
Council officers, it is understood, have sought throughout to ensure that value for money has been achieved. The Welsh Government has provided financial support which is believed to be just under half the project cost, with the council funding the remainder.
The Palace Theatre reopened last November as an office hub and cafe, and the hope is that it will attract and support new jobs and generate additional footfall and spending in the area.
Council leader Rob Stewart said: “Our project to save and bring exciting new life to this unique and much-loved architectural treasure has received widespread acclaim.
“Our timely and decisive intervention took this 136-year-old grade two-listed building out of private ownership and transformed it from dereliction into our city centre’s first grade A office space. Before we stepped in, it had been close to being un-saveable.
“Our incredible transformation project involved a great deal of specialist expertise and is now a sustainable and high-profile Swansea success story.”
The Palace Theatre, on the corner of High Street and Prince of Wales Road, dates from 1888 and has been used as a music hall, bingo hall, nightclub and for movie screenings before falling into disrepair. A campaign group, Friends of the Palace Theatre, was formed to raise awareness of its plight in the hope that it could be saved and restored.
The subsequent transformation is one of a string of regeneration projects by the Swansea Labour administration. Another one, turning Castle Square into a greener, more welcoming space with two food units is expected to start shortly. These projects require borrowing and grants.
Features such as the decorative iron balcony, original Ebbw Vale brick and floor tiles at the Palace Theatre have been preserved. While the building is still owned by the council it is being operated by a company called Tramshed Tech, which provides flexible work space, business growth programmes, and skills and training for the creative, digital and technology sectors.
Speaking ahead of the opening last November, Tramshed Tech’s co-founder and chief executive Louise Harris described the wedge-shaped building as an iconic space and pledged to create a thriving hub.
Cllr Stewart said the restored Palace Theatre could boost the local economy by an estimated £5 million-plus every year. “TramshedTech tell us that they’ve already created a thriving new business community, validating their own investment in the Palace and contributing to Swansea’s economic growth,” he said.
One person taking a trip down memory lane when he visited the new-look Palace Theatre last year was DJ and promoter Matt Hutchinson. Recalling his DJ-ing experiences there, he said: “It was amazing. It was a venue designed to entertain. You felt like you had 100 years at least of history with you – that energy was in the walls.”
