That is a lovely piece of your Felling History George. Hebburn and Jarrow had dances but not in purpose made venues like yours. Ours were in Church Halls, Store Halls,an old hall in a ex Power station (called the Powerhouse) and the Ambulance Hall but people still enjoyed dancing.
The original Imperial Cinema was built about half a mile away from this building. Just behind the bottom of Felling High Street. After being badly damaged by fire it was rebuilt and opened as Imperia (the L being left off). Unfortunately a second fire utterly gutted the place. Meanwhile, the owners built a dance hall near Felling Square and called it Palais de Dance. Despite a state of the art dance floor supported on 1000 springs, it wasn't popular and failed. A variety of events were held in this building from snooker boxing and roller skating until eventually the dance floor was removed and the building became a cinema. The New Imperia was born. Again the L was left off the ending of the name. This time it found success and was very popular and luxurious. Then, as chance would have it, there was a need for a dancehall. This was build next door and received the original floor with the 1000 springs. during WW2, an aircraft hit a defence cable and crashed into the old Imperial ruin. There are a number of explanations why the L was left off the name Imperial the best being that there wasn't enough space.
