AN ICONIC building has come well and truly back to life following a fantastic three-year transformation.

The former Regent Cinema on Corringham Road, Stanford-le-Hope has been in the hands of business partners Frank Cull and Shaun Young since 2010.

During that time, it has gone from a dilapidated, flood-damaged cinema-turned-snooker club, to a main events venue the people of Stanford-le-Hope can be proud of.

Now known as the Old Regent Ballroom, the building hosts weddings, tribute shows, charity events, dance classes and all manner of parties.

Boss Frank, 59, who lives in Langdon Hills, said: “It’s a new era.

“The place is looking really nice and beginning to take off as people begin to find out we’re here.

“As they come in, locals people say ‘I saw Sound of Music in here when I was eight’, they stand with tears in their eyes. It means a lot to the community.”

The building - unusual, but popular - opened as a cinema in February 1935 by Mr T.J and Mr W.J Boyce, who ran it as independent film house.

Its first film was 20 Million Sweethearts starring Ginger Rogers and Dick Powell.

But during the 1970s, the 585 seat Regent Cinema closed and was converted into The Regent Leisure Centre and fitted with an upper floor.

The first floor became a snooker hall and the ground floor a bingo hall, before Riley’s replaced the bingo tables with pool tables to make the centre a fully-fledged snooker and pall club.

Frank and Shaun, who had been running successful line dancing classes in Aveley for 17 years, were turfed out of their venue and on the lookout for a new place for their classes when they had the Regent Leisure Centre pointed put to them.

The then derelict building offered potential for their classes, but as they waited to take on the lease, the centre sustained more damage.

Frank explains: “By the time we took over the lease the place had been closed for a few years. Flooding had caused a lot of damage, the ceilings were down, the pipes had frozen and the carpets were ruined. It was a nightmare.Thurrock Gazette:

“The damage was done while the lease was being sorted and the place was empty, but we had to swallow that and get it up and running.

“Now we’re going from strength to strength.”

The Ballroom now boasts a 3,500 square foot ballroom upstairs and a cabaret bar on the ground floor.

Frank and Shaun have recently received permission to fit kitchens and next on their to-do-list is giving the building’s front a facelift.

The concept was born from Frank and Shaun’s love of dancing and willingness to find a venue for their much-loved dances classes, but behind co-proprietor Frank, there are various fascinating tales. He was once a professional dancer, treading boards of theatres in the West End and performing with the Second Generation song and dance troupe. Later, he produced and choreographed films.

He was UK Disco Champion in 1983 - a competiton he entered because he needed the car on offer as first prize, but he subsequently, came second in the World Championships with dance partner Vanessa Biddulph.

He said: “I was doing a film with Angela Lansbury and Kevin Kline at Shepperton Studios and I needed a car. I had been teaching some people who had reached the semi-finals and when they told me a car was up for grabs. I said to them: ‘I’ve been teaching you for two years and you never told me you could win a car!’ “So me and Vanessa entered it and we won three motorbikes and a car.

“When we did the world championships, Angela and Kevin had been cheering for the Amercians, who beat me!”

But he’s enjoying his current project with Shaun - who he claims is the “hardest working man in Stanford”.

He added: “It’s a full time job, but it’s very enjoyable.

“We want to open it out to the community. I would like to see amateur dramatics societies using the venue for their productions and shows.”

For more information about the Old Regent Ballroom, visit: www.theoldregentballroom.com.