The original winter garden was a simple stage in an open air bandstand on the waterfront lawns.
The steel ribbed dome was made to fit over it, and one of the last to be made by the Saracen Foundry in Govan. In 1924, it was shipped to Rothesay to be reconstructed. The entire cost was £1,500.
The art nouveau building was joined more than a decade later by the Art Deco Pavilion, and between the two buildings, the town was a mecca for entertainment.
While the Pavilion offered live orchestra and dance hall, the Winter Gardens had more formal shows, with professional acts like Sir Harry Lauder and Tommy Morgan in the summer season, and amateur companies in the winter.
The island became an important naval base during the World War Two with the seventh submarine flotilla based there. The third Submarine Squadron which followed them was based there until 1957.
For a short time, the winter gardens were used as a mess for personnel but they soon returned to their original purpose of entertainment with morale boosting shows from the Rothesay Entertainers.
The group was established by Glasgow painter and decorator Robert Fyfe, who first painted sets there and then began to put on shows to cater for holidaymakers. The shows ran for over 25 years.
But as the appeal of the Scottish seaside town waned in the 60s and 70s, both the Winter Gardens and the Pavilion fell out of fashion. Both struggled to find a new and viable use and both were derelict for a period.
The Pavilion – which closed for refurbishment in 2015 – was due to reopen in 2019 but the pandemic, inflation and the cost of living have pushed costs up and caused long delays. Now in the final stages of the project, it’s due to reopen in early 2027.
The Winter Gardens project still has further work to do, and estimate they need to raise £700,000 to upgrade the heating system and add a café bar.
“It’s an important moment,” says Dorothy.
“It means that we, the local people that live here, have control over what happens to it.
“I think people just feel we don’t want to lose it, and there’s so much we can do.”