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____________________________________________________________________________________________ Park Palace, Corner of Park and Mill Streets, Liverpool Arthur Lloyd is know to have performed at the Park Palace 1895 1896 1901 1902
Left - Poster for Arthur Lloyd at the Park Palace February 11th 1901 - Click to enlarge. This poster is from a large collection of original Lloyd Posters collected since the mid 1800s by members of the family and found recently after being lost for 50 years. To see all these posters click the Poster Index here...
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 The
Park Palace was built in 1893,
as a purpose-built suburban Music Hall
and was designed by J. H. Havelock-Sutton, who also built the Shakespeare
Theatre in the City center in 1888,
and the Metropole Theatre in Bootle in 1911,
both now demolished. The Park Palace featured films along with its variety
shows as early as 1905, and
in 1909 the building was even
renamed the Park Palace Kinematodrome. The Theatre still retained its
Music Hall Licence however and continued with both variety and cinema
until it was closed in 1959 to be converted into engineering works, offices
and stores for Crofts Engineers Ltd. |
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The image above right shows the building in 1982 when it was being used as a Chemist shop which itself closed in 1995. The building still stands today, albeit in a severely dilapidated state. The image right shows a detail of the front elevation of the Park Palace in 2004. Picture by Marky.
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Above - The Park Palace in 2004 - Picture by Marky.
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There may once have been a gallery. The proscenium was flanked by fluted Corinthian pilasters with bulbous acanthus leaf bases, a straight entablature and broken triangular pediment. After a visit by King Edward VII the Royal coat of arms was installed above the proscenium. |
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Above - The auditorium ceiling - Courtesy Ted Bottle - Photo Ted Bottle 1988. After 1959, the Palace was used as a factory. The boxes and balcony etc were removed and a floor inserted but the proscenium ornament remains. The exterior was very plain with no fly tower and was much altered in latter years.' - Text Courtesy the Theatres Trust.
Above - Rear of the Park Palace in 2004 - Picture by Marky.
Above - The Park Palace in October 2004, disused and in a sorry state. It is currently unknown what the future holds for this once popular Variety House and Cinema. - Pictures by Marky.
The internal pictures of the Park Palace on this page were taken by Ted Bottle in 1988. Ted Bottle is the author of 'Coventry's Forgotten Theatre, The Theatre Royal and Empire' published by Badger Press. Click the image right to buy this book at Amazon.co.uk. |
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Above
text (edited) and image above right - From the book 'A Tram Ride To
Dingle' by Philip Mayer - Bluecoat Press.
The
In
response to a request for personal reminiscences of the Park Palace
the following was sent in by a 76 year old reader now living in Australia.
He writes: Thanks for your page on the PARK PALACE, I remember the building
on the corner was the co-op, the one on the right was part of the domestic
mission. Regarding the Palace it was I think a dark maroon with gold
tiled exterior, it did have a (gods area) balcony, the seats were just
like big steps with some sort of cushions on them. The big problem below
was the pillars that supported the balcony, if you got stuck behind
one of them they blocked of the show. Thanks for the memory I'm 76 and
would have been there about 1935 for the cowboy pics, poor but happy
days. Regards John in Australia.
