An update on the future of Margate Winter Gardens says the venue will be shut for ‘a period of time’ following the ‘halt’ in bookings from August 2022.
This summer it was announced that bookings for Theatre Royal and the Winter Gardens will be put on hold next year as the future of both venues is examined.
Bookings are scheduled to pause at both Margate entertainment venues, with operator Your Leisure’s annual rolling lease at Theatre Royal ceasing on 28 April 2022 and a halt in Winter Gardens bookings from August 14, 2022, although Your Leisure retains its lease which runs until 2024.
Margate Town Deal funding of £2 million has been allocated for a renovation project for the Theatre Royal and the business case for this project began in September. The council will be looking for an operator, project partner and making a funding submission to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Margate Town Deal funding of £300,000 has been earmarked to create a fully developed plan for the Winter Gardens.
This would include a detailed project delivery plan with public and private sector engagement. Specialist services would be needed to help test the market and identify the opportunities available. Specialist architects would also be used to scope out the required works and develop a fully costed scheme. The Town Deal Board is waiting for confirmation from MHCLG regarding the funding.
However, the venue is expected to be shut to the public for at least one year.
Cllr Reece Pugh, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic Development at Thanet District Council, said: “Margate has always had a strong entertainment offer and the Winter Gardens is a much loved local venue. As part of the Margate Town Deal, we have allocated £300,000 of revenue funding for an in-depth appraisal looking at the best options for the Winter Gardens to ensure a sustainable future.
“The objective of the ‘Future Options Appraisal’ is to review how best to reinvigorate this underused heritage asset to support footfall and income into the town. The project will be further boosted by a series of highway and public realm interventions that are also proposed as part of the Margate Town Deal.
“No decisions about the future of the Winter Gardens have been made but it is safe to say that the impact of COVID-19 not just on the Winter Gardens but on the leisure industry as a whole, has been profound.
“The Winter Gardens, a Grade II listed building, is also in need of refurbishment and the work as part of the Margate Town Deal will help it define its place in a post-recovery marketplace.
“As part of the long-term solution for the Winter Gardens, the heritage building will need significant renovations to ensure its sustainable future for the next 100 years. It is likely that in order to facilitate this work and to secure a longer, more viable future, that the building would need to close for a period of time to allow this to be safely completed.
“Until the options appraisal has been completed however the details around this are not yet known. The public will be kept informed as this work progresses.”
Kevin Fordham, Managing Director of Your Leisure, added:“Your Leisure is working in a collaborative partnership with Thanet District Council on the long term future of Margate Winter Gardens. Until August 2022, for Your Leisure at the venue, it will be business as usual, and we are committed to delivering an extensive and diverse programme of shows and events. The current lease runs until October 2024 and we are working with our partners to deliver what is in the best interests of both Your Leisure and the iconic venue.
“The past decade has seen theatre operators placed under increasing pressure of maintaining large heritage buildings, in some cases over 100 years old. Compounding this has been the impact of the Covid pandemic which has created huge challenges for the arts and live entertainment industry across the UK.
“Prior to the pandemic, Your Leisure was in the process of successfully moving the theatre operation towards long-term financial sustainability, however, the impact of Covid restrictions removed the momentum and a much needed year of show income.”
Your Leisure will honour all tickets and events up to these dates at both venues.
Thanet District Council owns the freehold of the Theatre Royal and the Winter Gardens.
In February’s council budget it was agreed that Thanet council would pay Your Leisure’s management fee for the year up front and paid an additional £160k to the trust. It was also agreed to loan Your Leisure between £700k-£1.5m; provide additional funding of £230k plus VAT to the Winter Gardens to ensure that it could operate by being able to replace and relocate the boilers.
The action was taken as Your Leisure faced a substantial shortfall in its income as a result of Covid with trading income down by £1.28million in 2020 compared to 2019 and outstanding liabilities in the region of £8m in terms of loans for Hartsdown and Ramsgate leisure centres.
The council, as guarantor for the leisure centre loans, could have faced extra penalties if the loans were redeemed early. Your Leisure currently repays around £600,000 per annum.
Your Leisure worked to contain the financial impact of covid with use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). It also gained £200,000 in grants from the Coronavirus Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund and secured short-term financial support from its bankers with an £800,000 loan via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
The leisure trust also negotiated an instalment arrangement with HM Revenue & Customs for the payment of PAYE liabilities and payment holidays on rent, loan and utility liabilities and secured additional and advanced funding from local authority partners.
An application for £930,000 grant funding through the Cultural Recovery Fund was also submitted although the amount granted was £332,000 and a crowd-funding page for Margate Winter Gardens and the Theatre Royal was also launched.
Several of Your Leisure’s hospitality staff were also made redundant last year. The leisure trust had a cash balance of £806,529 as of January 12, 2020.
Potted history of the Winter Gardens
The Pavilion and Winter Gardens took just nine months to build, costing £26,000, and opened on August 3, 1911.
When completed the Pavilion and Winter Gardens consisted of: a large Concert Hall, four entrance halls, two side wings and an amphitheatre. Originally the stage could be viewed from both the main hall and the amphitheatre with the ability to enclose the stage in bad weather. The accommodation was for about 2,500 persons inside the building and 2,000 in the open air.
The Main Hall had been designed as a concert and dance hall. In the early 1920s, the Margate Municipal Orchestra, consisting of 36 musicians, would perform a variety of classical and operatic works, backed by the leading vocalists of the day. Most of these were performers like Carrie Tubb and Harry Dearth, engaged from the leading London Concerts, notably Covent Garden. Others like Pavlova – one of the world’s leading dancers – and Madame Melba were engaged as part of their world tour.
During the latter half of the 1920s Ivan Kalchinsky’s Blue Slavonic Company arrived and presented a cabaret show for six weeks. The company was to present a summer show right up until the outbreak of the Second World War.
The Second World War, unlike the First World War, interrupted the normal life of the Winter Gardens, and within a short time almost ended it for good.
Thanet was made a restricted area, due to invasion fears, and it was prohibited to enter it for leisure or pleasure purposes. The Winter Gardens’ first war-time role was during the evacuation from Dunkirk when it acted as a receiving station for some of the 46,000 troops landed at Margate. It also found other war-time roles such as an air raid precaution and food rationing centre. There were also concerts for the troops on Sundays and Brighten-Up Dances every Thursday and Saturday.
In January 1941 many of the windows were broken when a sea mine exploded nearby, but the main structure was undamaged. Six months later, on July 7, the Winter Gardens received a direct hit causing considerable damage. The main structure of the hall remained intact and the chandeliers survived as they had been removed for storage.
The plans for reconstruction of the Winter Gardens were drawn up in 1943 but due to the war, a start on the work could not be made until February 1946. The work took only six months to complete. The building officially re-opened on 3rd August. Repairs cost £40,000, approaching double the cost of the entire building in 1911.
After the wars stars appearing at the venue included Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and Dame Vera Lynne.
In the 1960s the Winter Gardens hosted Helen Shapiro, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas and in July 1963 The Beatles performed there.
Stage versions of TV shows were also proving popular with Hughie Green’s ‘Double your Money’ and ‘Opportunity Knocks’. ‘Double you Money’ was the first Summer Season to appear at the Winter Gardens since 1939, it played for ten weeks during the peak of the season in 1962.
In 1974 with the formation of Thanet District Council, the Winter Gardens found itself with a new owner and a new man in charge, Peter Roberts. In 1978, it was completely re-seated, re-furbished and re-carpeted at a cost of £125,000 and a new entrance provided on the seaward side of the Main Hall.
The Winter Gardens continues to bring a variety of stars to Margate.
History courtesy Margate Winter Gardens/adapted from ‘A History of Margate’s Winter Gardens’ by John Williams and Andy Savage.
