This was Tynemouth Plaza as it was 30 years ago in March 1993. By then, generations of Geordie pleasure-seekers had flocked to the Victorian-built attraction on Grand Parade - but only a few years after our photograph was taken, the place would become a fire-hit ruin and ultimately be demolished.
The Plaza opened in 1878 as a coastal leisure complex and was home to an aquarium, winter gardens, and a roller-skating rink, which could be flooded to provide a sea-water bathing pool. There were also 'club' facilities, including card, billiard, reading and smoking rooms.
The ballroom – for which it would be best remembered – and a restaurant opened later. The building's imposing outline dominated the view along Tynemouth Longsands and instantly became a local landmark. Interestingly, the Plaza could have looked very different if the original planned shore-level pavilion, colonnade and promenade had ever been built.
READ MORE: Tyneside 60 years ago: 10 photographs from around our region in 1963
The venue traded under a variety of names. Originally, it was Tynemouth Aquarium and Winter Garden. In 1898, it was rebranded as Tynemouth Palace, and finally, in 1926, as Tynemouth Plaza - although it briefly dallied with the name Gala Land in the 1930s.
Local historian Charlie Steel points out how during World War I, the building was used as a billet for troops, before going on to be sold several times and having a variety of uses over the following decades - including as an exhibition hall, theatre and picture hall. In the 1960s, it became home to the Beachcomber nightclub. More recently, in the 1980s and '90s, the venue was used for shops, an amusement arcade, and once again as a roller skating rink, although it was acknowledged the once-grand Plaza was now in a state of decline.
After nearly 120 years, the end for the Grade II-listed Plaza came on February 10, 1996, when the Chronicle reported how a 70-strong team of firefighters battled in vain to save the venue after it was engulfed by a huge blaze. Flames could be seen as far away as the the Wills factory on the Coast Road.
When the fire was finally extinguished, it was found the middle section had been totally destroyed, while the two end sections were badly damaged. There was no option but to pull down what was left of the Plaza, and the demolition men moved in on March 1. The cause of the blaze was never established. Ironically, at the time of its destruction, plans were being drawn up to give the Plaza a facelift using Millennium fund money.
The Chronicle's editorial column lamented: "Tynemouth’s magnificent beach won’t ever be quite the same without its brooding presence. What on earth can we put in its place?" Today, you will find a large sand dune where the Plaza once stood tall and proud.
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