The theatre, built on the site of a market hall, opened on Bank Holiday Monday 30 August 1920. It was designed in Baroque style by Arthur Hewitt, a councillor in Llandudno; he also designed Clare’s Department Store and the Washington Hotel in the town.[2][3]
The stuccoed facade has two domed towers to each side, and a central recess featuring an oriel window within pillars that support a pediment. On the ground floor there are shop fronts on either side of the entrance.[1][2] The original theatre had a circular entrance foyer, leading to the auditorium, which seated 1,500 in stalls, a dress circle and a balcony. There were also boxes either side of the stage and behind the dress circle.[2][3]
The building was a theatre and cinema during its early years. After the Second World War it was mainly a cinema, with stage productions during the summer. In 1972 there was a conversion, so that the interior was split into a bingo hall in the former stalls, and a cinema in the former dress circle. The building was closed in September 1999.[2][3][4]
It was purchased by Wetherspoons in 2000; it was restored as much as possible into its original condition, in accordance with planning permission, and was opened as a theme pub in August 2001. There was restoration of the exterior in 2012–13.[2][3][4]
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