The Majestic “Renovation”

A piece on Shanghai street photographer Sue Anne Tay’s blog about the “renovation” currently ongoing at the old Majestic ballroom and cinema on Jiangning Lu (formerly Gordon Road). The exterior is, it seems, to be left alone but what on earth is happening to the interior is anyone’s guess – this is the problem with a lot of “renovations” in Shanghai as while facades have some degree of protection, interiors do not. Hence the interior vandalism at numerous Bund properties including Three on the Bund etc. I’ll post soon on the renovation along the tiny sliver of the old French Bund (Quai de France) that remains at No.22 where again the facade remains and has been cleaned quite nicely but inside…well, wait and see for yourself…but I warn you, it ain’t pretty!

I have some pictures of the lobby and interior of the Majestic from about 10 years ago somewhere but, of course, can’t find them. Certainly the lobby was still quite nice when i last went in a couple of years ago and the theatre too (full of kids at the time screaming at The Wiggles when they came to China). Anyway, Sue Anne has some pics of the exterior on her site and she’s a real photographer. But here’s an old shot of the Majestic from around the time it was built. As it was completed in the somewhat troublesome year of 1941 it missed the great heyday of Shanghai nightlife.