funding and a loan, was finalised in March 2010. Political party conferences have increasingly taken place in major cities with modern, purpose-built conference centres such as ICC Birmingham, ACC Liverpool and Manchester Central Convention Complex, with the most recent major conference in Blackpool being the Conservative conference in 2007. Since 1996, the venue has hosted the yearly Rebellion Punk Festival. Location The Winter Gardens is in Blackpool's town centre, about 250 metres from the sea front. The complex occupies most of its block, a roughly square footprint with sides about 200 metres in length. The two north-facing corners of the block are not taken up by the Gardens buildings themselves, however, but by shops and restaurants. The northwest corner is completely separated by a road serving the stage door of the theatres. The west face also accommodates a few small shops with the same architectural styling as the main building. The complex is bounded by roads on all sides – Church Street, Leopold Grove, Adelaide Street and Coronation Street. Component buildings The Opera House and Pavilion theatres, the Empress Ballroom, the Olympia exhibition hall and the Arena function hall are on the ground floor. All are contiguous and contained inside an Art Deco surface with a large arcade connecting two main entrances. There are additional function rooms on the first floor including the Spanish Hall, Baronial Hall and Renaissance Hall. Ground floor Opera House Theatre The 3,000-seater Opera House is one of the largest theatres in the United Kingdom. The present theatre is the third one to have been built on the site. The original building, completed in 1889, at a cost of £9,098 was designed by the theatre architect Frank Matcham, who also designed the nearby Grand Theatre and the Tower Ballroom. It had 2,500 seats, and was named Her Majesty's Opera House. The theatre's seating capacity was soon deemed insufficient and in November 1910 was closed for reconstruction. The new and larger building opened just nine months later. However, in 1938 the second Opera House was demolished and the present 3,000-seat theatre opened in 1939. The first Royal Variety Performance to be held outside London was staged at the Opera House in 1955. In 2009, the Royal Variety Performance was again staged at the theatre. It is home to the last new Wurlitzer organ to be installed in the UK. The Opera House Theatre hosts many theatrical performances