Work on the Project began on 18th February 2008. It began with a site meeting including the Architect, Structural Engineer, Contractor’s team and Electric Palace Trust chairman and secretary.

Now well into its fourth week the project has been making excellent progress: the contractors have installed over two thirds of the new galvanised steel beams. 

Several further phases of the works programme remain to be carried out over the next two-three months.
This restoration programme has been made possible by a Your Heritage Grant of £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund plus over £17,500 raised by numerous local voluntary efforts through the Appeal Fund (2006-7) launched by the cinema’s Patron Clive Owen in November 2006 and supported by the Harwich and Manningtree Standard. The appeal reached its target of £15,000 within the year – and then some- thanks to all involved.

Architects..................Nicholas Jacob Architects  Ipswich  
Structural Engineers.....M L M  Ipswich
Contractors................Bakers of Danbury
Health & Safety
Services ................... M L M  Consulting Engineers
Owners  ................... Harwich Electric Palace Trust   

                                                                  

Photos CS   

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a grant of £50,000 to the Harwich Electric Palace Trust for essential repairs including installation of supplementary weight-bearing main metal beams.

Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh today {Thursday 25th November 2004 } visited the historic port town of Harwich before travelling to Colchester, Britains’s oldest recorded town, to attend a civic luncheon. The busy Royal itinerary in Harwich included visits to the Guildhall, Ha'penny Pier and 1912 Centre finishing up with a tour of a rather different kind of palace – the Queen and Prince Philip visited the Electric Palace Cinema, a Grade 11 * Listed building and one of the oldest purpose-built cinemas in the country, still open for business. The Queen has visited Harwich before, in 1958, but would not have been able to visit the Electric Palace then since the cinema had fallen into disrepair. After many years of work to restore and to reopen the cinema the Harwich Electric Palace Trust felt that today's Royal Visit was the building’s finest moment in a remarkable come-back story.

The royal party were escorted around the cinema by Chris Strachan, Chairman of the Harwich Electric Palace Trust, and the Queen showed particular interest in meeting the staff and in seeing many aspects of the restoration.

                              

She was introduced to members of the team of volunteers who keep the cinema up and running as well as those involved in the restoration work, current and past serving Trustees, cinema managers, the cashier, projectionists and other helpers. The Duke was very interested to hear about the range of projection equipment still used in the original projection booth. The Queen and Duke were then introduced by Colin Crawford, HEPT Secretary, to a number of representatives of voluntary groups in the Harwich and Dovercourt area before leaving for Colchester. 

17 February 2004

The new look Electric Palace website, www.electricpalace.com, was officially launched by Ivan Henderson MP for Harwich on Monday evening, 16 February 2004. Harwich Electric Palace Trust Chairman, Chris Strachan welcomed an audience of cinema members, funding partners, cinema volunteers and local press to a live presentation of the newly enhanced website. Chris then introduced web designers James Fryer and Dan Thompson before inviting Ivan Henderson to ‘press the switch’ and declare the upgraded website officially online.