The Tivoli Theatre is one of Aberdeen’s most important and historic landmarks. Standing opposite the railway and bus stations it is one of the first buildings that visitors to the city encounter.

 

After the closure of the building as a Bingo Hall in 1997, the building fell into disrepair.

 

The Tivoli Theatre is listed in the “Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland”. The Register is “maintained by the Scottish Civic Trust on behalf of Historic Scotland, and provides information on properties of architectural or historic merit throughout the country that are considered to be at risk”.

 

An external investigation reported in the Register in 2000, indicated that “the building is starting to show signs of decay, with broken windows and vegetation growth in the guttering”.

 

The building continued to deteriorate during the early years of the 21st Century. Broken windows were boarded up, and for a period there were no operational pumps in the basement and electrical intake rooms, resulting in them flooding.

 

Internally, the roof was leaking in numerous places, and ceilings collapsed in several of the dressing rooms.

 

However, during his years of ownership, Mr Donald undertook some work to maintain the integrity of the building, and the auditorium and front of house areas remained undamaged at the time of the Tivoli's purchase by Mr Brian Hendry in 2009

 

Although negotiations by Aberdeen Tivoli Theatre Trust with Mr Donald to buy the Tivoli ultimately proved fruitless, the trust and their supporters were given generous access to the building by Mr Donald during the first decade of the 21st Century. This enabled the public to visit the Tivoli for a number of years during the “Doors Open Day” event held annually in Aberdeen.

 

The pictures on this page are historic, and reflect some of the damage suffered by the Tivoli over the years since it closed. They may no longer represent the current state of the building under its new owner.