Plans to refurbish and reopen the Theatre Royal in Margate have reached an important milestone, says Thanet council, with the appointment of the architect and design teams along with specialist consultants and project managers.
Thanet council says it expects to start the tender process for the main contractor in early spring 2026, subject to approval by Cabinet, and hopes to reopen the theatre with a pantomime at the end of 2027.
In March 2021, £2.2m of Margate Town Deal’s £22.2m funding was allocated to the Theatre Royal.
Since then, a plan to create a nationally significant performing arts hub in Margate has been created, focusing on the Theatre Royal’s 245 years of history.
Thanet council says this combines heritage, performance and a move towards financial sustainability.
The proposal includes restoring and modernising both the theatre and 19 Hawley Square.
The ambitious scope of the project means Thanet council needs to secure funding from external sources for the project to succeed.
Significant large scale capital funding applications worth £7.5m were made in 2023/24. Unfortunately these applications, including £4.5m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, were unsuccessful.
To stabilise the project, Cabinet agreed a further re-allocation of £2.8m from the Margate Town Deal in 2024.
The project now has a total budget of £5m, leaving a funding gap of £2m.
Development of 19 Hawley Square will likely form part of a second phase of works once the additional £2m is secured.
Initial designs presented by Nick Lee Evans, a Specialist Conservation Architect from Lee Evans Partnership, showed an extension to the Addington Street theatre building, widened pavement, reinstated signage and a new box office entrance.
For the five floor building at 19 Hawley Square designs showed rehearsal space in the basement; on the ground floor plans show a studio theatre for 50 people, sound studio, green room, bar and coffee area; first floor plan show offices, meeting spaces and a roof garden and, on the two upper floors, accommodation for the theatre companies.
The Hawley Square venue, which was believed to have historically been The London Hotel, will also have offices and accommodation for touring theatre companies.
Minor roof works to make sure the building is water tight were completed in March 2025.
The next steps include submitting a planning application and request for listed building consent, putting out the tender for contractors to complete the works and setting up a trust – an independent legal entity from the council – in partnership with a new operator.
Agreement on lease terms and partnership arrangements would follow.
Theatre Royal Margate currently remains on the Theatres at Risk Register.
The Grade II* listed property has been shut since April 2022 when the lease agreement with operator Your Leisure was ended.
The historic theatre hosted its final show on April 28 and was then shut to await refurbishment and arrangements for a new operator.
It was listed in 1955, and in 2018, it was added for the first time to the Theatre Trust’s At Risk Register.
The Theatre was bought by Thanet council as ‘owner of last resort’ in 2007. The building was shut for a six month refurb programme and all staff were made redundant. It was then leased back to the Margate Theatre Royal Trust on a peppercorn rent until 2012 when the Trust went into administration.
Thanet council initially bought 19 Hawley Square from Orbit Housing in 2011 with a view to expanding the Theatre’s facilities.
In 2014 Thanet council offered a long lease or freehold interest in the theatre, and buildings at 16a and 19 Hawley Square and there was an expression of interest from Soho Theatres.
Soho Theatres developed a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver an improved theatre alongside community, food and beverage and hotel space at 19 Hawley Square. However, this bid fell through due to being at the end of the funding period although there was sufficient support for the idea.
Your Leisure took the site on in what was supposed to be an interim measure but had been running it up until the closure in April 2022. All staff were made redundant.
Whens the winter gardens going tobe reopened.
Do some research!
pull it down , its well past its sell by date , kids today dont want pantomimes , half of them would not know what they are , and please dont say oh yes they would !, its a mobile phone and drugs society nowadays
Your real world sounds like a hell hole
Children love panto, proud to have sponsored school trips for local schools when i was a county councillor and one year was on stage in a red outfit at the historic theatre royal , great memories.
For once Barry I agree with you,I have been to plenty of pantos in this theatre and children all liked them each time .Unfortunately some oldies on this platform ,have forgotten what children are like given the chance also believe everything they read
Oddly enough people do want pantomime – the Marlow sells out its season pretty much as soon as tickets go on sale.
Not my thing, but apparently they still bring in the punters and the money!
Bit of a difference between top stars at the Marlowe and ‘straight to video’ so called celebs in Margate.
“real world”- “kids today don’t want pantomimes”? Oh yes they do!
I have attended several pantomimes at the Marlowe in Canterbury. The auditorium was filled with enthusiastic children. No mobile phones or drugs were in evidence.
I think that’s all the more reason to keep it! Theatre is about so much more than just panto. It’s music, drama, comedy, community events. If we pull down every cultural hub because young people haven’t experienced them yet, we’d have nothing left to introduce them to. These spaces are part of what makes any community worth living in.
This is great news, I very much hope it happens as it would add a further year round attraction to Margate and bolster the local economy.
With Dreamland and the Hall By The Sea flourishing again, it makes no logical sense to revamp either the Theatre Royal or the Winter Gardens. They should both be repurposed for this century. Turn the Winter Gardens site into a Sea World and the Theatre Royal into an H.M.O.
Harry, sea world turned down a chance to have the site of the Promenade site years ago, if they did turn the theatre into hmo you would be on this site moaning about it
Completely disagree with you . Since both these venues closed many top comedians no longer play a venue in Thanet . Granville has some comedy but not top comedians who used to play WG or TR like Jimmy Carr or John Bishop to name just two
Top comedians ? Jimmy carr and John bishop? Am I missing something!
They might not be your taste but they sell tickets because people want to see them ,don’t they ? Anyway who do you have in mind as a top comedian ? Maybe has been Jim Davidson by any chance !
Mick, wake up this is Margate… dross central. The WG, Lido, TR used to thrive… WITH HOLIDAYMAKERS and then only in a five month season. There aren’t any now, just dross from London, migrants and half a druggie population. Anyone with any sense doesn’t go out in Margate, Cliftonville or Ramsgate at night anymore.
The way forward is to present a mixed bag of shows including pantos, music, plays, comedy and support for local artists and performers but please no cancel culture. Something for everyone. The danger is a company just putting on niche productions. The future looks good for the Theatre Royal but every possible theatre attendee need to be catered for and they will in turn support the venue.
For a Cllr. you are remarkably ignorant to the area you are supposed to represent. But TDC council chamber is known for being populated with ignorant bottom-feeders.
None of the above would fill half an auditorium in Thanet. Run down premises and poor quality shows.
NONE of Thanets leisure facilities have ever been full out of season apart from the odd decent band at the WG and very few of those since the days of Dave Bill’s management.
Thanet is a lost cause… it’s a complete dump and, until we get 1. some decent, hard-working, honest councillors with a little ‘vision’ and 2. get rid of all the clock-watching jobsworths who work for TDC
I go out at night in Ramsgate at least three nights a week.And so do plenty of my friends and acquaintances. It’s not the terrifying place some people commenting here think it is.
You can see a good pantomime at Ramsgate town council any day of the week