STUDENTS will be given the opportunity to help return a North-East theatre back to its Edwardian glory after it was awarded £5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The grant is the largest investment in the history of Darlington Civic Theatre, which opened its doors in 1907, and paves the way for an ambitious project to revamp and restore the building.

It is the third time the theatre has made a bid for the competitive national funding scheme, with the grant going towards an £8m investment in the theatre.

Ivor Crowther, head of HLF North-East, said: “It was a real shame to see a theatre with diminishing audiences because it wasn’t able to be brought into the 21st Century.

“It is a fabulous building - it has got such a lot of stories and history. It just seems like the right time to invest in a building of this sort.”

The investment will give young people, including students from the nearby Darlington College, the opportunity to help restore the exterior of the Grade-II listed building using traditional materials and techniques.

As well as new seating, air conditioning and better disabled access, a decorative sunburner will also be installed in the ceiling of the auditorium.

The Edwardian-style gas burner is a primitive air conditioning system, which was used inside theatres in the early 20th century to help air flow through the theatre.

Theatre director Lynda Winstanley said the best quality materials will be used to bring the theatre into the 21st Century, while retaining its historic features.

"We have been researching all the original materials and techniques that were used in the construction of the building," she said.

“For example we have found catalogues from the company that manufactured the original mouldings.”

The theatre is set to expand into two adjacent shops on Parkgate, making it visible from the ring road and linking it with the new Feethams Leisure complex.

This will help to create a cultural quarter of Darlington, with improvements to the backstage area allowing the theatre to accommodate larger touring companies and stage sets.

Councillor Nick Wallis, the council’s cabinet member for leisure, said: “The Civic is one of the most highly regarded small theatres, but we have had to turn away big shows that wanted to come here because we couldn’t accommodate them.

“This is fantastic news – we have all been on cloud nine.”

News of the grant has also been welcomed by groups and individuals across Darlington, including Darlington for Culture - the group which speaks for arts and culture in the borough.

Its chairman John Dean said: “Darlington For Culture supported the bid when it went in because we think the theatre is a great part of the arts landscape in Darlington and we are absolutely delighted that is has been granted.

“What we are seeing in Darlington is arts communities making things happen and the council is part of that. There is an awful lot happening – it is an exciting time.”

While Alasdair MacConachie, managing director of Vauxhall dealership, Sherwoods, added: “I would just like to congratulate the council and the civic theatre for their magnificent management of this project.

“It will make it easier for the rest of us to help raise the balance needed.”

DARLINGTON Civic Theatre is the most complete surviving example of Owen and Ward, of Birmingham – a firm specialising in theatre design - whose work also included Bishop Auckland Hippodrome.

It was opened in 1907 as The New Hippodrome and Palace Theatre of Varieties by managing director, Signor Rino Pepi – an Italian born former quick change artist, who had performed for Queen Victoria but gave up his career to create an empire of theatres across the north of England.

He died on November 27, 1927 and his ghost is often seen wandering around the theatre, dressed in formal wear.

In 1990 when the theatre was refurbished, the remains of a Pekingese dog, owned by Signor Pepi and his wife, Mary, Countess de Rossetti, were found entombed in a wall at the theatre. The dog is also said to haunt the auditorium, and has been heard barking and jumping up at visitors.

The Civic Theatre is the only traditional working proscenium theatre between Leeds and York in the south, Sunderland in the east, Newcastle in the north and Lancaster in the west.

It is constructed from Middlesbrough red brick with terracotta dressings, while the ornamental canopy is a replica of the original iron and glass structure, which was destroyed by a traffic accident in the 1960s.