New owner of Little Theatre site undecided on its future
THE derelict site which was home to the Little Theatre has been sold for £500,000.
But the new owner has said there are no plans to redevelop it at this stage.
The land, which also includes the derelict property Oban, was sold in April by Loisirs Normand Ltd to Jeffrey and Carol Doble.
The building burnt down in 1984, leaving behind a shell, which has never been used again.
Mr Doble and his wife recently purchased Harbour Studio for £5.8m., which stands alongside the Little Theatre site.
Mr Doble said the previous owner had bought the site about 10 years ago, but it was still on a separate conveyance to the house.
A chartered surveyor, he moved to Guernsey from the UK last year and said he had been welcomed.
While he knows his house – a modern, square property below Clifton Hall – had divided opinion, he said he and his wife loved the view.
As for the Little Theatre, its future is still up in the air.
‘We are undecided,’ he said. ‘It’s a bit tricky to get at.’
He said the first job was to clear the undergrowth and see what state the building was in.
‘It’s interesting,’ he said. ‘The whole site has not had much done to it since 1984.’
The Little Theatre was used by Gadoc from after the Second World War until the 1970s.
The Eisteddfod was held there and other showbusiness events.
By 1984 the upstairs theatre was available for letting and seeing little use, but Renoir’s nightclub, which used the ground floor of the building, was going strong.
Then in the early hours of Saturday 10 March, a fire started in the upstairs foyer and quickly spread though the building.
With the site accessible only from steps, firefighters faced a difficult time tackling the blaze.
They were unable to save the building, which was gutted, but they did manage to stop it spreading to the Guille-Alles Library, which was just metres from the fire.
Thousands of gallons of water were used to extinguish the blaze and the library toilets were flooded after firefighting water seeped through the library’s wall.
The site is now overgrown scrub land.
In planning terms, it is within the St Peter Port main centre inner boundary, one of the areas where planners aim to direct new housing.
However the limited access via Clifton and Arcade steps creates challenges.
It is just outside the core retail area.
