2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Jess Molyneux)
It's now been over a century since one famous Liverpool venue first opened its doors - and these images offer a glimpse into the building today before the historic site starts a new chapter. It was back in 1924 that The Grafton, next door to the the Liverpool Olympia on West Derby Road, first opened as a dance hall. During WWII, the venue was packed every night with war workers, soldiers on leave and American GIs and in later years, the likes of The Beatles and Duke Ellington performed there.
Also remembered for its infamous "grab a granny" Thursday nights, it became one of the city's most famous venues, welcoming thousands in its time. Back in 1990, the late Panayiotis Zorba bought the famous Grafton and the Liverpool Olympia next door , with his son, Chris Zorba, now 52, moving to Liverpool around 1994 and joining the family businesses. In 2008, The Grafton was used as a comedy club before permanently closing.
But last month, it was announced that major renovation plans for the venue have been approved by heritage experts and that the city council’s planning committee tentatively gave the go-ahead to recommend 90 apartments in a six storey development. In the plans, The Grafton's façade will be retained. Before the site starts a new chapter, the ECHO were recently given an exclusive, rare tour inside the building by Chris Zorba.
Incredible photos, captured by Liverpool ECHO photographer Colin Lane, and footage, by ECHO videographer Alice Walker, offer a glimpse inside the building as it looks today. Do you have any memories of The Grafton? Let us know in the comments section below. Here, you can see everything from its red décor to signs for the Viceroy Suite and Manhattan Disco rooms, the cloakroom, the DJ booths, old TVs, the stage and the venue’s large dance floor standing eerily empty.
The site has been derelict for years but remains instantly recognisable to all those who went there. Here are 22 photos captured inside The Grafton today. These are bound to stir some memories for former clubbers, staff and customers through time - see more in our gallery below.
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