Floral Hall – Belfast

On Wednesday 21, 2015 Linda Stewart wrote in the Belfast Telegraph about the Floral Hall at Bellvue and the campaign to try and save it and restore it to its past glory.  Having read the article, and looked at the Facebook campaign page, with its photos, I got to wondering how many of you remember going to any of the events at the Floral Hall, was there a ‘scene’ , albeit hidden, at the Floral Hall.
Why not write an let us know your memories, and with your permission we will print them
The Floral Hall, was built in the 1930s and was used as a dance hall for many years.
 

Located within the grounds of the zoo is a 1930s art deco ballroom, the Floral Hall. The Hall was popular venue in its time and during the war the Hall had blackouts fitted to the windows so that dances could continue. In the 1960s, the hall was visited by musical artists such as Pink Floyd and Small Faces. The Floral Hall closed to the public on 2 April 1972 and has remained derelict since the outbreak of the Troubles in the 1970s.
During the 1990s the Floral Hall had been given Listed Building Status.
In December 2011 saw the creation of a Facebook page based around sharing old photos of the Floral Hall including interior shots of the hall today, the following year an online petition, addressed to the City Council was created to help raise awareness and to progress with the restoration project of the hall.
With such an iconic building, and the fact that it was a venue for so many different kind of events, I wonder how many of the LGBT community in Ireland, or anywhere for that matter, can remember going to any kind of event.  If you do why not write to us letting us know your memories.