Thousands of people pass by it everyday but nobody knows it’s there.

From the outside it’s clear the New Olympus Theatre in Barton Street has seen better days.

Sandwiched between Vauxhall Road and Blenheim Road, the theatre was originally built during the Jazz Age and the era of silent movies.

In 1923 the Picturedrome opened as a Picture House cinema with a capacity for 600 seats.

Converted from an original group of shops it “stood out as an impressive structure in this part of the city”.

Stepping through the main doors of the theatre shows a building trapped in a time capsule – art deco decor abounds with stairs on either side leading to either “circle” or “stalls”.

Inside the red seats and wallpaper reflect a long history unbeknown to people rushing by on a street in one of the poorest parts of the city .

The New Olympus theatre in Barton Street which is being restored.
The New Olympus theatre in Barton Street which is being restored.

A night at the pictures

Residents in Gloucester have remembered their times going to the Ritz on an internet forum which dates back to 2006.

One person in Indiana in the USA recalled going to see Little Women starring Elizabeth Taylor.

“The queues went halfway down Blenheim Road. They had a commissionaire in those days – if they were getting full he would come out and say ‘two at the back’ – you could stand at the back of the stalls and watch.”

They added: “I quite enjoyed being in the queue you could listen to all the conversations going on and study the technicolour posters displayed outside.”

Prices ranged in those pre-decimal days from 9p to 1s and 9p for a ticket.

This is how the cinema stood until the mid 1950s when it became the Ritz.

The existing balcony seating in the New Olympus theatre, in Barton Street which is being renovated.
The existing balcony seating in the New Olympus theatre, in Barton Street which is being renovated.

Then it seems to have been catering for a different clientele.

Another person, who lived in Cinderford in 2006 said the Ritz in Barton Street was “the local flea pit, specialising in horror and ‘glamour’ movies”.

This is defined further by someone else saying: “The Ritz was great for us local teenagers because they would put on nudist films.”

But it sounds like those teenagers had to use their imagination.

“You didn’t see much because the ‘actors’ had towels hanging over their arms. Also a load of B-grade horror movies.

“The manageress (a big woman) wore black with a string of pearls and would think nothing of giving you a clip round the ear if you shouted when the film broke which it often did.”

The circle in the New Olympus theatre, in Barton Street which is being renovated.
The circle in the New Olympus theatre, in Barton Street which is being renovated.

Good times, bad times

It didn’t take long before it was not in use, an aspect of its future which has been repeated time and again.

Mecca Bingo took over the running of it in the 1970s but they stopped it becoming a theatre.

But it’s history hasn’t always been one of violence and vice.

But then in the mid-to-late 1980s it seemed to get a new burst of life.

Gloucester Operatic and Dramatic Society (GODS) bought the theatre in 1986 and “its conversion back into a working threatre began in earnest”.

At one point even Anneka Rice and the Challenge Anneka team got involved in a bid to restore it.

But then all seemed to go down hill again. In 2007 GODS sold the building and in 2012 the building was sublet.

But the leaseholder realised they couldn’t run it as a theatre and changed the structure of the building.

Two years later major changes were made including the removal of the rake – a sloping floor normally seen in a theatre – and heating.

In the process of that the seats were put into the dressing rooms “rendering all materials unusable and the seats unrepariable to meet any safety requirement for their re-use”.

A court order was issued and English Heritage and the Gloucester Arts Council stepped in in a bid to save it.

But there was another blow to any dreams of the theatre being in use. In 2015 Gloucester Arts Council stepped away from the management of the theatre.

It also fell back into the clutches of vice.

Last year Gloucestershire Constabulary requested Gloucester City Council either axe or change the terms of the licence on the building after two 200-man brawls were reported .

Olympus Cafe Bar in Barton Street

The bar was allowed to re-open but there is little sign of any life now.

At one point there were suggestions that a “games room” at the back of the bar was actually used as a “gambling den”.

It’s also become a target for flytippers .

For most of the time since then it’s been in use in one form or another.

But after various changes during the past 30 years it has since fallen into a state of disrepair.

There have been attempts to restore it back into community use but those proved unfounded.

The entrance hall of the New Olympus theatre are renovating the theatre in Barton Street.

Turning a corner?

It’s in serious need of a lick paint and with no heating working its colder on the inside than the outside.

Plaster is crumbling away from the ceiling due to mould getting in and the rake has been taken away.

But Gloucester Arts Council is hoping to restore it, and they’re already making progress.

Phil McCorkmick of the Gloucester Arts Council said he really hopes the theatre could finally come back into public use.

“I’ve been told that Gloucester hasn’t got a theatre. No one even knows this is here,” he said.

Chairman of the Gloucester Arts Council Phil McCormick with one of the chairs donated by the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
The New Olympus theatre in Barton Street is being restored.
Chairman of the Gloucester Arts Council Phil McCormick with one of the chairs donated by the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The New Olympus theatre in Barton Street is being restored.

He wants to see the theatre used as place not just for Gloucester Operatic and Dramatic Society shows, but also ones by the diverse community in Barton.

“There’s nowhere to showcase shows featuring cultural dances or plays and out them in Glouocester, “ he said. “It’s going to be a performace space open to everybody. A place breaking down cultural barriers. It’s only getting everybody in that you can breaking down cultural barriers.”

He hopes the changes he is planning will make it fit for purpose.

He hopes wholesale changes can be made not just in front of the theatre but behind it too.

Already new chairs have been donated by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s home of his musicals, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane , which is undergoing a multi-million pound restoration.

“Now the seats are here, we can really crack on,” Mr McCormick said.

As well replacing the rake in the main theatre, they will also repair the plastering that’s crumbling away.

Wall panelling – which is plastic moulding fitted during the Challenge Anneka restoration – will also be replaced and the sound box which takes up a huge amount of the circle will be scaled back.

He also wants to install sound panelling and restore that heating as well as an overhead rig and repair the roofing which, in parts, is leaking.

Chairman of the Gloucester Arts Council Phil McCormick with one of the chairs donated by the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
The New Olympus theatre in Barton Street is being restored.
Chairman of the Gloucester Arts Council Phil McCormick with one of the chairs donated by the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The New Olympus theatre in Barton Street is being restored.

How much will this cost?

Mr McCormick doesn’t know. He’s been relying on goodwill to get things to where they are.

While the Theatre Royal provided the seats, Mr McCormack had to rely on volunteers to get them to Barton Street.

“Andrew Lloyd Webber had £45million to restore his theatre. I’ve got £45,” he said. But he said the gift of the seats has saved thousands already.

It has also been blessed with getting Hollywood A-lister and son of Gloucester Simon Pegg on board as the patron of the charity .

But that doesn’t diminish the scale of the project in any way.

“I still wake up at 3am in the night thinking what am I doing?’” he said.