For a while, seawater was drunk as a rival tonic to the spa water. Fig 3: Society flocked to the Spa after Paxton and Stokes built a new Music Hall and Bandstand in 1858. Fig 5: Artist C. F. Butterick captured the spectacle of the Spa Music Hall on the night it was ablaze on September 8, 1876. Nearly 30,000 tons of earth were moved and massive retaining walls built in order to extend the old music hall to the rear. By the post-war period, changing holiday expectations were having an impact and, with its hopes pinned on the conference trade, the town council took over Scarborough Spa in 1957.