Doncaster and Sheffield venues feature on annual risk register

Doncaster Grand, which used to entertain hundreds of theatregoers, has been closed for three decades

A theatre and a former cinema in South Yorkshire have been featured on a national list of threatened venues.

Doncaster Grand and the Abbeydale Picture House in Sheffield are on the annual Theatres at Risk Register compiled by the Theatres Trust body.

Built in 1899, Doncaster Grand was said to be so run down it would only be able to partially reopen after repair work.

Abbeydale Picture House, on London Road, required urgent repairs to its roof and ceiling, a charity said.

The Theatres Trust list was started in 2006 to highlight venues threatened with closure or severe decay but with the potential to be revived.

Doncaster Grand has appeared on the list each year since it started, with Abbeydale Picture House added for the second time.

Ken Waight, from the Friends of Doncaster Grand Theatre group, asked for local people to "help out" and back the push to get it open once again.

"We believe it would cost up to £25m to repair and fully reopen," he said.

"The venue has been shut now for over 30 years and 60 years since it was a live theatre."

Margaret Herbert, 91, remembers performing on-stage at the Doncaster Grand as a girl

The last performance was Showboat in 1963, with the building later becoming a bingo hall and threatened with demolition in 1994.

Friends of Doncaster Grand Theatre formed and helped the building gain Grade II listed status in 1995.

"This theatre has great affinity with people in Doncaster and it needs that to continue," said councillor Glyn Jones, Doncaster's deputy mayor.

"People have a lot of time for it and want it restored."

Margaret Herbert, 91, remembers performing on-stage at the Doncaster Grand as a girl.

"It's a big stage, at one point there was 80 people on it - it was great," she recalled.

Discussing how she would feel if the venue reopened, she answered: "I'd be feeling a bit tearful but very happy."

Abbeydale Picture House once had a ballroom and a billiards hall in the basement

Built in 1920, the Abbeydale Picture House cinema had a ballroom and billiards hall in the basement, plus a lounge and café above the entrance.

It became a furniture showroom in the 1970s, but was disused from 1991.

Friends of Abbeydale Picture House restored the auditorium in the early 2000s and reopened the venue with a new stage in 2008.

Steve Rimmer from CADS, a Sheffield charity revitalising buildings for the arts and creative industries, said much of the space was currently unsafe for public use.

"Although it's a bad thing that the building is on the list, it helps us drive awareness to try to save it," he said.

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done to bring it back to being able to open."

He said the charity was working with Sheffield City Council to try to buy it outright from a private owner.