ENTERTAINMENT venues that have closed to the public tend to be gone for good. So the plan to reopen Bournemouth’s Palace Court Theatre – also known as the Playhouse – constitutes a dramatic comeback. It is 35 years since a lack of public support seemed to have brought down the curtain on the building s days as a theatre and cinema. It became a place of worship, over the objections of Bournemouth council and many supporters. Now Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) has acquired the venue – a neighbour of Bournemouth’s Premier Inn on Hinton Road and Westover Road. It plans to restore the 1930s art deco building as a teaching space with performance venue, complete with 400-seat auditorium that will welcome the public as well as students.
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Cllr Philip Broadhead and AUB’s Paul Gough and Katharine Piercey at the Palace Court Theatre I WAS really delighted to read that the Arts University have agreed to acquire what those of us of a certain age would refer to as the Palace Court Theatre. I well remember back in the eighties when a group of us on Bournemouth council battled to try and save this lovely theatre as a purpose- built arts destination for locals and visitors. No doubt priority will be plans to involve the theatre in the work which goes on at the university, now recognised I think as one of the country’s leaders in its field.