The Olympia Theatre has been granted a 10-year planning permission to revamp and extend its premises at 72 Dame Street, which is a protected structure. Edel Morgan reports.

The plan is to restore the famous early 19th-century cast-iron canopy at the front of the theatre, remove the back portion of the ticket office, restore sash windows and widen the footpath at the entrance.

The theatre's two bars, Maureen's bar and Sheridan's bar, will be interconnected and the stalls area extended. A single-storey structure on Crampton Court will be demolished and a four-storey extension built on the north-west corner of the site for storage and toilets.

The Olympia has its origins in a small music hall built on Crampton Court in the late 18th century which was continually expanded, culminating in the theatre.

In 1999 An Bord Pleanála refused permission to carry out works to the theatre which would remove elements that would "seriously injure the amenities of the protected structure". A separate application in 1999 was refused permission to alter the foyer.

Earlier this year the Olympia was granted permission to build a modern five-storey office and retail building to its rear at Sycamore Street.

The plan is for retail at ground floor, offices on the upper floors and office storage at basement level. It will have a floor area of 862 sq m (9,278 sq ft) with two entrances on Sycamore Street. In the late 1990s, the owners of the theatre were refused permission for a six-storey office block and eight apartments on the grounds that the height and design would not "adequately complement" the civic importance of Meeting House Square.