alhambra
340614
5709
53
Images by Craig Brown, David Wardle and the Photo Electric Effect
Boarded up and wasting away. The building hadn't been used as a theatre since the 60's.
Balcony seats crumbling to dust
It had been used for bingo until the early 2000's and had been lying empty for 6 years when we took it over.
The foyer
creepy hallways untouched from the days of cinema
The glory days!
The Alhambra opened as a theatre in 1922
But quickly changed purposes to a cinema
Construction of the iconic neon sign, which was then ripped down in the 1970's
The neon sign was visible over 25 miles away in Edinburgh
Work on the refurb starts
A lick of paint...
Wiring...
Stage works begin...
...and finally restored to former glories!
The neon sign sits proudly in place once more.
The foyer
A peak at the stalls...
A peak at the balcony...
Ta-da! The 4th largest stage in Scotland, and 1200 seats to fill...
Royal boxes
Show time!
A full house
View from above the stage of the auditorium with the seats out, raising capacity to 2000
ALLOFTHEBACON
This is awesome. This is why imgur is fuckin rad.
seeunxttuesday
You. I like you and I like what you have done.
NaturalBob
This needs to happen to more sad buildings :)
Summersky
What a beautiful restoration.
voicesandmusicformoney
If you don't think this is the tightest shit, you can get out of my face. Bravo, brava, bravissima.
HeyFreckleFace
Am I the only one that saw those light orbs and immediately said "GHOSTS!"?
DrivingTheBus
"Creepy hallway." Or dusty. Definitely ghosts though. :)
Smalls244
I sell commercial real estate for a living...this post gave me a real estate lady boner.
skirrame
Is this in Dunfermline! I have family there. Proud glaswegian masel but. There used to be an Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow but it got demo'd
pedrig
Axio Restoro!
lemonwaterice
*Theasthai Reparo, if you're going off of etymological terms.
Snooj
This is amazingly inspirational. I wish I could do this for a living, but I can't escape my current comfy job. You're so lucky you have a 1-
Snooj
family that you can do this with. I'd be bankrupt before I could finish one building. I've done it with apartments, though!
Bishopcorva
Theaters and grand stages are meant to be used, it keeps them alive. Excellent work in this rescue.
schmeryn
All I see is Rocky Horror. Sold.
GrowliePants
Damn right! That's all I saw too! A friend and I go every month to our local show. We're a bit obsessed.
lotdw
peek*
maniacalmustacherides
Thank you
ImSoMetaEvenThisAcronym
♬ thank youuu ♪
CharlesFinley
This is majestic as fuck
Moriarty
I see what you did there, and I approve!
WhiterThanWonderBread
That art deco architecture...
origamipotato
MmmHmm...
ShnarfV2
THIS IS DUNFERMLINE. THIS IS WHERE I LIVE. WHY ARE YOU ON FRONTPAGE DUNFERMLINE, WHY?
RightUpYourAli
Dunfermline!!!! (I just moved to the US from there last week!) I saw Jimmy Carr there in August and it was amazing!
catgolightly
Welcome to the States!
NubbyGemPrince
This is awesome OP!
spicyroll
Why does this remind me of Bioshock Infinite?
iamdeathandthisismyvalley
Because they are just one decade (and several multiverses) apart ;)
tentsie
The fonts of the texts.
MakingUpAUsernameIsTerrifying
Just don't host any large gatherings of the Nazis or you'll have to burn all that down.
asphikenna
Damn you....stealing my words straight from my brain....
AlexImguram
As someone who used to work in a very similar venue in Edinburgh that closed to become a Wetherspoons, I wholeheartedly approve.
asiansterotypeone
Picturehouse conversion to wetherspoons still happening?
AlexImguram
There are still huge cinema projectors on the top floor from the '30s. Beside them I found a letter from Disney's laywers dated c.1970 (1/2)
AlexImguram
....from when the venue were apparently showing one of their movies without their permission..
asiansterotypeone
Haha really? This is in th picturehouse aye?
Teager
Amazing refurb! It turned out great! Good on you for preserving a little piece of history, OP :)
rachiechilipepper
*DROOLS* I love seeing things restored. It makes me happy.
Otrill
As a theater technician,
HousePIant
Holy shit, that's fancy.
AxeCopIsMySpiritAnimal
Fancy as balls.
Anrack
MattTK
Glasses. The word you're looking for is glasses/
SumYungHo
no
jamalcolorado
I think I saw some French Jewish girl kill a whole lot of Nazis there one time...
NessasaurousRex
That's exactly what I thought of while looking at this.
mineminebirds
jamalcolorado
Perfect!
mcase19
this is barely relevant to the post but as an American I feel like I just had my greatest moment when I pronounced Edinburgh correctly
[deleted]
[deleted]
Scottishsandwich
ed-in burr-uh
simfonic
And if you go to Glasgow, it's Glas-go. Not like glass, closer to gles. And spring is a great time to move here. Flowers everywhere. :)
dsfounis
Do you want ghosts? Because this is how you get ghosts.
Cornloaf
If you have ghosts, you have everything.
benthewren
I mean you can clearly see the orbs so yeah
SryTyler
Unfocused cobwebs and dust.
Arcade
Pretty awesome...was there an episode of IT Crowd filmed there?
UsChickens
You do get that there are dozen upon dozens of theatres called Alhambra across the UK, right? It's a palace in Spain.
SheepSyndrome
IT Crowds filmed in London, so probably not. Totally awesome, though
GenuineHappiness
I LIVE WHERE THE MUSICAL GAY WAS FILMED. THERE ARE ACTUALLY 2 EPISODES WITH THE THEATRE SHOT IN IT OMG MY TIME TO SHINE
GenuineHappiness
And no, that's not it. It's Wimbledon high street actually. :D
MarcusPlautusMolesworthus
It looks like the Full Monty theatre
ticklishpear
A gay musical, called Gay?!
oncled
Better than that Team America show - AIDS
alhambra
Nope!
doughnutrobot
sup man that theatre is in wimbledon
MaryDropLockAndPoppins
I LITERALLY JUST FINISHED THIS EPISODE STOP YOU'RE SCARING ME
HighrockTendales
Almost every theatre in the UK looks the same so I see where you're coming from. They're all plush and ornate and frankly wonderful.
IMakeEverythingSexual
IMDB says that was filmed at New Wimbledon Theatre
InsufficientEvidence
Filmed about five minutes from my house in Wimbledon, that was!
andysniper
i was thinking that too. but i don't think filming ever went up into the wildlands of scotland.
Groose
Sorry to say that you wont be getting your answer, checked reddit and not a soul asked.
lostangle
I'll ask...
Tiggr
You know there are like thousands upon thousands of these old theatres in the UK...
dpash
Aren't all our theatres like this? The good ones at least. If the floor don't creak, I don't wanna know
Arcade
As a Canadian who's never been to the UK....No, no I don't. Sorry!
pedrig
"I'm disabled!"
ChrisM4303
I laughed entirely too hard at work to this comment... Imgur rights may be taken away because of you. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY!
NoYolo4Jesus
Please take my upvote. +1 good sir.
YuliaStark
"How?" .... "I don't know!"
pedrig
"But, where is your wheel chair?"
AqueousAndroid
"...stolen."
EldrickWoods
Which step is, be rich?
nycnewyork
Step 1 is be good looking. Step 2 is be rich.
humanhamburger
what step involves them adopting me?
asafillintheblank
step 1
lllthssm
all the steps...
LetsSeeHowThisGoes
Step 0
fehleepeh
Step 2
interestingmonster
So you have a problem with a rich person doing something worthwhile with their money??
albinoiguana
In this case? I'm going to say Step 1.
Barkinsons
I second that
TheEmperorOfSanFrancisco
*get loans
inboxmefoxes
None of them, only saving enough money and having a good enough plan that a bank is willing to invest with you, of course!
HackerJacker
So show much seed money was there? Simple question.
inboxmefoxes
I'd be pretty curious myself!
inboxmefoxes
Then again, I doubt anybody would agree with me because realistic ambition is frowned upon these days. :(
batawang
Yes but that tends to come and go in cycles. Banks don't make money if they don't lend money, but careless lending broke shit recently.
JM1911A1
Hey I agree with you, man. That's my plan laid out right there.
Barkinsons
I'd guess it's pretty hard to get a bank into such a big project, so the owners probably had a good stock of capital themselves
inboxmefoxes
It's hard to understate how much having a very good plan can influence a bank's willingness to invest though.
LessThanHumbleScott
Still the best way to convince them to invest in you is for you to invest in yourself (financially).
TheThingNoNotThatOne
Humble is right; no amount of planning will convince a bank unless you got a lot of your own money at stake.
inboxmefoxes
2) most of my money, then that's still my investment, even if it's only 10% of the total investment or something.
inboxmefoxes
3) a plan strong enough to convince a bank that they'll make money will make them invest a lot more alongside you, banks should be a partner
inboxmefoxes
Well of course, but it's all relative; if I've saved up for a many years and am willing to invest, say... 75k, and that is 1)