Northumberland Road, The White City (Hippodrome)

Built by Gosforth builder George W. Parkinson to designs by Joseph H Morton & Son in 1909, with an imposing dome and ornate stucco façade, as a skating rink. The name was inspired by London's White City exhibition of 1908. The first phase of roller skating was known as 'rincomania'. The four-wheeled skate had been invented in America in 1863. From February to August 1912 the building was the Dreamland Ballroom de Luxe. Then it was taken over by the Variety Theatres Controlling Company and partially rebuilt. Sunderland architects W. and T.R. Milburn removed the dome and renamed the building the Hippodrome. It held 2703 people. It was opened by the Lord Mayor on 23 November 1912 as a variety theatre which also had a cinema licence. It closed on 20 May 1933.