Coun Jane Scullion: Pride in Calderdale and its history

The Victoria Theatre is now considered to be one of the region’s top cultural venues, with one of the largest seating capacities.The Victoria Theatre is now considered to be one of the region’s top cultural venues, with one of the largest seating capacities.
The Victoria Theatre is now considered to be one of the region’s top cultural venues, with one of the largest seating capacities.
​​Last week I was lucky enough to have a preview of the refurbishment works at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax. What a treasure of a building we have!

By Coun Jane Scullion, Leader Calderdale Council:

It opened 1901 as the Victoria Hall and was bought in 1964 by the Halifax Corporation (which later became Calderdale Council) when it became the New Victoria. It then became the Halifax Civic Theatre (HTC) in 1973, and if you look at the carpet in the foyer, made by Crossley’s, you will see HTC woven into the red and gold threads.

My next-door neighbour worked as a waitress in the old Civic Theatre, in the days when Barkers did all the outside catering and it was packed with organisations like the Women’s Institute having a warming lunch. It became the Victoria Theatre in 1993 to better reflect its heritage.

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I was there to see progress on works which have been funded through the Future High Streets Fund. Budget pressures mean there has been very limited investment in recent years and other parts of the country have seen their beloved theatres ‘going dark’ as there is no money to run them. I’m pleased to say that our Victoria Theatre has bucked the trend.

Post pandemic it bounced back spectacularly with 2022 exceeding all previous years in terms of ticket sales. This growth has continued year on year since, with 2025 shaping up to be another record year. I think we all needed a night out and some entertainment after those difficult Covid times.

The Victoria Theatre is now considered to be one of the region’s top cultural venues, with one of the largest seating capacities. What you will see, when the works are finished, is a revitalised venue, with the downstairs foyer area opened up to encourage greater daytime use with an accessible ground floor café bar flooded with light and a small performance space.

Accessibility was an important part of the works, so making the theatre as accessible to as many people as possible was key and three lifts and two accessible toilets have been installed, with one lift giving access to the Circle level for wheelchair users for the very first time in the venue’s entire history. Why three lifts, I hear you ask? Well, it’s an old rambling building and Halifax is on a hill!

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The preservation of the building’s heritage has been key throughout the works. Original features, such as stone columns in the new café, have been exposed and highlighted. I love the paintwork – I’m told the name of the main colour is ’biscuit’ – and I love the theatrical curtains in the new space.

Why should we care about a theatre in one of our towns: care enough to fight for money from central government to do it up, at a time when there are so many things to concern us? Well, it brings money into the borough, but it’s more than that. We really care about our heritage gems here – and just look along the road towards our marvellous Halifax Market – if you haven’t already done so pop in and see the newly revealed clock, a masterpiece of Victorian ironwork.

We are proud of our place, our home, and its history, and we are investing in our shared future, so others can appreciate and enjoy our fantastic borough well into the future.

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