What next for 'at risk' Garrick Theatre?
Historic building included on list of endangered venues with questions over its future
Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Southport Lead.
It may seem impossible to imagine a time when West End shows would transfer to Southport but that’s exactly what happened in the heyday of The Garrick Theatre.
With a capacity of 1,600, the Lord Street venue replaced the Opera House which had been burned down and was of huge importance to the town. Like so many theatres of its kind, it would go on to become a bingo hall and that is how most currently in Southport will have known it. Mecca Bingo never reopened after lockdown and while, there are big promises for the site, a lack of activity has raised cynicism about what comes next - where have we heard that before?
This week, the Theatres Trust named it among its ‘at risk’ theatres - we take a look at what that means and what it actually happening there.
Southport briefing
🧑⚖️ Phase Two of the Southport Inquiry will open today, exactly one year after the first day of Phase One. While the first phase sat at Liverpool Town Hall, the Phase Two opening will take place at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in St Paul’s, London. It is expected to last for around a year and its focuses have been informed by the findings so far, with including to examine the adequacy of how people fixated by violence are managed and what is stopping the various agencies from working more effectively together. As part of this, it will also consider the role of internet and social media in influencing and such people to prepare and carry out violent attacks; the sale of bladed weapons online (the killer was easily able to order from Amazon and hunting stores); and the harm caused by online spaces which promote extreme violence. Today’s hearing will comprise of the chair’s opening and an introductory opening statement by counsel to the inquiry. The main hearings will start in September.
📚 Plans to convert the former Broadhursts Bookshop into housing have been approved. The much-loved shop operated on Market Street for more than 100 years and as well as generations of Sandgrounders, famous visitors in its history included HG Wells, Rudyard Kipling and Johnny Cash. It closed down in August 2024 following the death of owner Laurie Hardman who had worked there for 55 years and his stepson Harvery Brown later told The Southport Lead the building had extensive safety issues which were too expensive to address. Earlier this year, proposals were submitted to convert the the first, second and third floors into accommodation and planning permission has now been approved. The change will see the ground floor retained for commercial use.
🚗 The future of the Esplanade Car Park in Southport is back on the agenda again as Sefton Council prepare to discuss it at their September Cabinet meeting. Councillors will consider options and recommendations for proposed third-party development on the site on September 3, although the meeting will at least partially be held in private on the grounds that confidential information relating to financial or business affairs is likely to be discussed. There had been an exclusivity agreement in place with GSL Developments to create a new £75m Cove Resort, but this expired in October. This resort would have offered multiple leisure activities including an outdoor lagoon, thermal spa and four-star hotel but its owner has stayed silent on the plans throughout, while Sefton Council now says it “continues to explore all options” for the future of the site. The fate of the Esplanade had been on the agenda for discussion at December’s Cabinet meeting, but was subsequently removed. The same happened in February and June. An update in a report published in June by Cabinet member for housing and regeneration Paulette Lappin stated that there was still an exclusivity agreement in place with GSL Developments and that matters were progressing but during a during a regeneration and skills overview and scrutiny committee meeting at the end of last month, executive director Stephen Watson said that this was published in “error”. He said: “The exclusivity agreement it refers to expired late last year, and options are under review for the future of that site.” Before the Cove resort plan came into being at the Esplanade site, Southport Community Energy Ltd had been working with Sefton Council on the planned replacement of an out-of-operation wind turbine with a much larger device which could have contributed to a community benefit fund worth over £1m. However, plans for the Cove resort then emerged, and GSL Developments was granted the exclusivity agreement for the site.
🎺 Live music will return to Lord’s Street Bandstand over the next two weekends. The free events will be held from 1pm-4pm on consecutive Sundays and are scheduled to coincide with the huge influx of visitors coming to town for The Open Golf Championship. Named Bandstand Revival, the event will also celebrate the huge amount of ongoing work being done by the Lord Street In Bloom Garden Volunteers working with the support of Green Sefton and local businesses to transform the historic Bandstand Gardens in recent months. Richard Owens from Southport Matters said: “Bandstand Revival comes from an idea from local residents. We worked with the Lord Street In Bloom Garden Volunteers and other local partners to showcase what can be done at the Lord Street Bandstand. Back in 2025, at a listening exercise run by Southport MP Patrick Hurley, residents told us that they would like to see the bandstand on Lord Street brought back into use. Since then, the Lord Street In Bloom Garden Volunteers have worked tirelessly to improve the area with lots of new planting restoring the flowerbeds to their former glory.” The volunteers are aiming to raise £10,000 to carry out the work and to buy new plants and flowers. You can donate here and see the full lineups here.
What next for ‘at risk’ Garrick Theatre?
By Jamie Lopez
Southport’s historic Garrick Theatre has been included on the Theatres at Risk Register for the fifth year running.
The Lord Street venue, which was built in 1932, has a storied history and has played host to West End shows and stars such as Julie Andrews and Laurel and Hardy but currently sits as a building site amid ambitious but slow-moving plans to redevelop it.
There are plans to transform it into a first-of-its-kind theatre spa hotel in a move which is hoped to be a catalyst for greater investment and regeneration in the southern end of Lord Street as well as creating a new major attraction.
Planning permission has been approved for the project in 2024 but so far construction has been limited to remedial repairs and preparatory work. The Southport Lead understands that the main building work had been planned to start much earlier had it not been for the slow nature of the planning process.
While broadly supportive of the proposal to secure its future, the Theatres Trust has expressed concerns over how feasible the plans are and what impact it will have on historic features within the building. As such, it has included the Garrick in its Theatres at Risk Register for 2026.
Announcing the publication of its annual register this week, which saw the nearby Preston Guild Hall added for the first time, the advocacy body said: “The 2026 Theatres at Risk Register comprises of 39 theatres across the UK under threat of closure, redevelopment or severe decay, which all have the potential to be revived for their local communities with the right support.”
History of the building
Built in 1932, the Garrick was a replacement for the Opera House which stood on the same site but was ravaged by fire. Designed by Lancashire born Southport resident George Edward Tonge, its original colour scheme was yellow and gold with green and black highlights and was considered the finest of his works. At the time of its opening, it was advertised as the most beautiful building in Europe.
Designed to accommodate touring drama, musicals, opera, and ballet, it was built with a full flying facility and had dressing rooms to enable the hosting of large touring productions. Its opening performance ‘Firebird’, had transferred directly from the West End’s Playhouse Theatre and such a move signified Southport’s status as one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country at the time.
