Building
The Gothic revival style building was originally a fire station, built in 1881. It retains much of that original character, for example it is the only fire Station for horse-drawn tenders which still has the look-out tower and doors still in place. The building should always retain its historic features as the frontage of the building is Grade II listed. It had a short history as a fire station as it was built for horse-drawn fire engines and the new motorised appliances were too big for the doors, which could not be extended. The area behind these doors, where the appliances and horses were kept, is now the Bell Theatre stage. Between its life as a fire station and its current one as a theatre, the building was used as a hall for the local church and also as an illegal boxing venue.
The design for the conversion to a theatre was by Owen Luder (later to become President of the Royal Institute of British Architects on two occasions and a well-known Dulwich personality), the original design for the building was probably designed by Richard Pearsall, in the Metropolitan Board of Works Architect's Department.
Like all old buildings, the theatre requires a lot of maintenance and a renovation is planned which should make the building fully accessible and able to accept performances from external theatre companies.
For those interested at simply looking around the building, it does tours for a weekend in September as part of Open House London.
Read more about this topic: South London Theatre
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