and a new one formed. Various regeneration schemes were considered, but in 1879 a fire damaged the roof, precipitating the final crisis.
=== 1881–1970: Polytechnic Regent Street ===
In September 1881, the Royal Polytechnic Institution closed, marking a transition to new ownership and a new era of educational development. Christian philanthropist Quintin Hogg (1845–1903) acquired the lease to the building in December 1881 for £15,000, and the premises re-opened on 25 September 1882. About 6,000 members and students – three times the anticipated number – attended during the first 1882/3 session. The institute gradually adopted the name the Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute, or simply, the Polytechnic, for short.
From 1882 an expanded programme of classes began, including science, engineering and art classes held in conjunction with the Science and Art Department (of the Board of Trade), and a scheme of technical and trade education, related to the City and Guilds of London Institute of Technical Instruction and to the London Trades Council. The building housed classrooms, a swimming bath, gymnasium, and a refreshment room. Activities included daily chapels, Parliamentary debating, a Reading Circle, music and drama societies and several sports clubs.
In the early 1880s the Institute attracted much favourable attention from the technical education lobby. Following the City of London Parochial Charities Act in 1883, it became clear that funds would be available to endow the Polytechnic and to found and support institutions on the same model across London. A public appeal was launched in 1888 to raise the required matching funding. The Scheme was finalised under the auspices of the Charity Commissioners in 1891, when the Institute was reconstituted as The Polytechnic-Regent Street (often referred to as the Regent Street Polytechnic), managed by a newly created governing body.
On 21 February 1896, the first performance of a moving film (Cinématographe) to a paying UK audience was delivered by the Lumière brothers …
