The original Olympia building on the sea front was constructed as an exhibition hall for the international fishery and marine exhibition, opening in May 1895. At the time it was the largest hall in Scarborough and could hold 6000 people. Construction cost over £5000.
The hall was used to house the fisheries exhibit throughout 1895. In the following years it hosted a variety of other events including sports, games and industrial exhibition. The building was named Olympia in 1903 when it was taken over by new owners.
At that point it was used to host variety, sideshows and cinematography, then in 1908 it became a roller skating rink and then a cinema in 1910. During the First World War it was used to manufacture munitions boxes after the cinema was damaged in a the bombardment. In 1919 Olympia became a ballroom. Eventually part of the building was converted back into a cinema.
The building was destroyed in a fire, which started in the amusements section just after midnight on July 29, 1975, 80 years after it first opened. There were no casualties. (Amendment: See comment below from Chris Cooper stating that the fire started in the Cinema at the back).
In 1979, lease for the site was eventually granted to Redcar Amusements for a new building. Their plans were for an amusements building with children’s rides and roundabouts on the ground floor, and a 13th Century style market village on the second floor. Lease conditions restricted the proportion of the building which could be used for amusements, although the building did contain a large amount of slot machines on opening.
The new building was scheduled to open for Easter 1981, however due to delays the shopping village would not open until 1982. In 1984 the building was sold again, and in 1986 the shopping village was replaced with an ice rink.
Information sourced from Scarborough News Articles compiled in topic files, available to view in the Scarborough Room
Designed by Caleb Petch and opened in 1895 as the Fisheries Exhibition Building, it was within a year used as a sporting hall, and by the turn of the century was known as the Empire Theatre of Varieties.
After a short spell as a roller skating rink it was re-opened by Sydney Carter and Will Catlin (of later Palladium and Futurist fame) as the Olympia Picture Palace and Electric Theatre. It was claimed to have 6,000 seats on the flat floor and three sided balcony.
In 1914 it was shelled by German bombs and closed. Post World War I it was repaired and reopened as a ballroom. It perished in a huge fire in July 1975 and has been replaced with Olympia Amusements.
