Liverpool Olympia

Liverpool Olympia stands beside the Grafton Ballroom on West Derby Road. Built in 1905 for Moss Empires Ltd by Frank Matcham, it was designed as an indoor circus and variety theatre. The building once housed performing animals in a basement reached by a lift. Trapeze rigging and animal quarters survive under the roof and auditorium. Its ornate interior still shows carved elephants and lions in the panelling. The theatre once seated 3,750 people across stalls and three balconies. Its wide proscenium stage sat level with the stalls, backed by an orchestra riser. After becoming a cinema in 1930, the building served as a Royal Naval Depot during the Second World War. Later it became the Locarno Ballroom, then a bingo hall, before reopening in the 1990s. Today the Olympia hosts boxing, dance shows, music concerts and wrestling events. It is Grade II* listed by English Heritage and owned with the adjoining Grafton Ballroom. The auditorium retains its vast scale and ornate decoration from its variety-theatre days.