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Jenny Hurkett talks about
restoring the music hall to its former glory

All together now for a right old sing-along - an ambitious
project to revamp a 144-year-old music hall has finally been
completed.

The Blue Town Heritage Centre, on the Isle of Sheppey, now
boasts a 120-seater theatre as well as a museum packed full of
local history.

Jenny Hurkett has sat in every one of the new chairs, which now
fill the Criterion Music Hall - full of emotion that her
hard work has finally paid off.

Since she took on the building with her husband Ian in
2004, it has changed drastically and is now Sheppey’s only cinema,
a theatre, museum and recognised tourist information
point.

When they became owners, the building in the town’s high street
was cavernous and almost derelict.

Initially they had planned to convert it into a kitchen
showroom, warehouse and offices, and Blue Town Kitchens did run
from there for several years.

Proud Jenny Hurkett in
the hall of the Criterion Music Hall

However, when Mr Hurkett fell ill the couple were forced to
close the business.

But Mrs Hurkett had begun to learn about the heritage of Blue
Town and the very building she had taken on and said she was hooked
on the history and couldn’t just let it be forgotten.

"I just kept thinking why hasn’t anyone ever done anything about
it," she said.

"We have got this music hall and all the history of Blue Town,
and people don’t know about it so, in the end, I thought why don’t
I do it.

"I thought it would just be a little project. I didn’t expect it
to get as big as it has."

Work to transform the building started in 2009, when Mrs Hurkett
got Remember Blue Town registered as a charity so she could apply
for grants.

Over the three years, the Hurketts and a team of dedicated
volunteers have worked tirelessly to realise the vision of an 19th
century music hall.

The revamp has cost about £25,000 and Mrs Hurkett said big
thanks should go to the Queenborough Fisheries Trust and the
Heritage Lottery Fund for their input.

As well as the new chairs and stage, there is a chandelier,
insulation and a projector.

But the journey hasn't stopped here, there are big plans to turn
the first floor into an educational reference centre and archive of
the Island.

Mrs Hurkett added: "I just didn’t realise how much heritage
there is here and to restore it has been absolutely amazing.

"I was quite emotional and I just couldn’t stop thinking we’ve
done it."

The Criterion Music Hall opened with a sell-out old time variety
show on Sunday, June 3.

• For more informationphone 01795 662981, emailbthc@btconnect.com or visit the website.

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• As far back as 1841 there was a wooden pub on the site called the Royal George.
• The building was renamed the New Inn in 1855 and in 1868 it was pulled down and rebuilt in brick.
• In 1876, it became the Criterion and that year saw the first appearance of Richard Nemo, a one-armed juggler and comedian.
• It was renamed the New Criterion Palace of Varieties in 1883 and there were performances by vocalists The Brothers Tabra, a sketch called the Lion Tamer by the Bunch family and the Hadji Troop of Arabs dancers.
• In a 1902 local directory it was listed as the New Palace of Varieties and Criterion Hotel.
• An advert in 1909 called it the Criterion Picture Palace where they were showing a Ruffle’s bioscope – an early form of projector – making it both the first and last cinema on Sheppey. A matinee for children cost 1d.
• In 1917 it lost its liquor licence because the local authority said the 50 pubs already in Sheerness was too many. It became Gieves and Co which made uniforms for the Royal Navy.
• On June 5, 1917, it was bombed by a Gotha plane in the First World War. It wiped out the frontage of the building. Manager Edward Perry was killed along with George Frier and Herbert Lucas – believed to be dockworkers – and Royal Navy gunner Herbert Gandy.
• It remained Gieves up until 1927, in 1932 it was listed as H W Jeans automobile and in 1954 Sheerness Motorlaunch Co Ltd and in 1976 it became Swale Engineering Services Ltd.