Finally some news that I’m pleased to hear: Blackpool Council are attempting an audacious bid to buy the Winter Gardens, the Tower, Louis Tussauds and the Golden Mile Centre from Trevor Hemmings.
Hemmings took a gamble and bought the Winter Gardens for £70million in the run up to the failed supercasino bid but soon this private sector flogging of the town’s assets could be over and these local landmarks could have their futures secured by the Council, with an offer approaching £40million having been accepted by Hemmings.
ReBlackpool maestro Sir Howard Bernstein concluded that finding private investors to pump money into the town was going to prove difficult, so it was decided that bringing these landmark structures into the public sector would be a good way to attract Government funding for maintenance and modernisation. The deal is dependent on money from the European Regional Development Fund and according to Leisure Parcs must be completed by the end of March 2010.
My hope now is that if these buildings are secured, the Council will invest in them to bring them up to a high quality standard – particularly the Winter Gardens. Never mind People’s Playgrounds and Birley Street lights, this could be the catalyst needed for real change in the town.
Scrap the Talbot Gateway now: this is where the £220million should be being pumped in to create a world class mecca of entertainment. Printworks style complexes have been mentioned and I am all for it. The place is perfectly laid out for an array of bars and restaurants inside, with a cinema as well as concert hall. Imagine how busy it could be if you went there to find all the quality establishments we’ve been craving – all indoors.
They could even set up some local voluntary groups to go and help do the place up. Even I’d go.
How about an undercover link between the Winter Gardens and the Houndshill Centre to create a super complex. That way there’s a mutual benefit between the two places and the Houndshill car park can serve the Winter Gardens as well. I think if they could create this, the bulldozers must come in and blitz some of the surrounding area to create open, green zones. That way you have an intense entertainment and shopping zone and a nice open space zone surrounding it.
Now Mr Callow, since you’ve given us a nice Christmas present, your next target is Talbot Road bus station….
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Fantastic comment Phil, I can’t disagree at all. Getting rid of smarmy Hemmings is one thing worth paying for on its own. I would love to see a Printworks-type complex in Blackpool, it would compliment the snowdome and Houndshill perfectly. We’d have it all leisure, shopping and entertainment. I love your idea of a walkway between Winter Gardens and Houndshill that would truly be the dogs bollocks.
You have made a very good move Blackpool council but now show us you have the aces up your sleeve and don’t just maintain the status quo give those magnificent buildings the investment they deserve.
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Well said TB but in the long term,someone proper should run it and not that idiot Weaver.I feel a private sector involvement is in order here.
Now how about cancelling that insane idea of cutting the south shore line and how about extending it to come into the central area of Blackpool, so visitors can come and enjoy a revived winter gardens?
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Of course a change in ownership is good news – but I do have concerns over a council owning such fine buildings – because councils rarely keep such buildings up to standard.
Volunteers need to be involved to really get these things sustained even if the council does get the buildings up to scratch first. The example of the Grand, Park View 4 U in Lytham, Lowther Gardens in Lytham, Witch Wood etc are all where community groups have maintained or built something of a really high standard that would not have been possible in the public sector.
I hate the printworks inside architecturally but I do think the original idea is a good one – but to really fit in with the fine architecture the Winter Gardens has.
What I’d also like the council to realise is that a proper train link is vital to the resort. How did the “Strictly” lot get here this year? Mrs F is reasonably certain it was by coach. And they only came once. Make a through train and with the fast link coming on the West Coast Mainline and we might be in with a chance of really regenerating Blackpool into the really fine place we all know it is at heart.
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great news, but what worries me is remember when the council ran the zoo, what a disater that was, run down, dirty.
lets just hope they get someone who is experienced to run it, not just some jobs worth at the town hall.
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emnm I totally agree – council officials don’t generally have the skills to take on this sort of job. Big one-off projects, yes. But for the medium to long term they really do need running by someone else.
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I heard they were lining up Helen France to boss it on about 400 grand.
I jest (hopefully), but I agree with you that the town hall shouldn’t run these attractions per se.
But surely these attractions already have some kind of management structure in place without the need to cast the net out for more highly paid directors. Maybe they could poach a middle manager from the Pleasure Beach to oversee it but I’m not really up for yet more six figure salaried wastes of space.
As you mentioned, when maintained by a community group, local facilities and attractions can be operated well because there is a burning desire for success infused by the locals that make up the group. I’d hope something like this would be implemented, perhaps a “Friends of the Winter Gardens” type thing.
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In terms of the right people to oversee restoration of the Winter Gardens & Opera House, look no further than the management of our own Grand Theatre. I remember being shown around the theatre in the late seventies on a trip from infant school, the school being involved in re-doing the seating. (The headmistress Mrs Tolsen was and continues to be intimately involved in the Grand). To see it now compared to then just about makes me tear up.
Anyone having been in the Grand over the past couple of years cannot failed to be stunned by the restoration. The ceiling, the arch over the stage, the fine detail on the front of the circle etc.
The standard of the restored Grand vs the current state of the Opera House is huge. That the Grand is a charitable concern and the Opera House a commercial one is just damning.
A “Friends of the Winter Gardens” is a great idea. I’m assuming you’ll let the council have that one for free, rather than £100k+ per anum?
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Of course!
I’m not against people earning good money, but they have to be worth it and I don’t think we need an army of overpaid directors.
The track record of the Council in the employment of the likes of Helen France and Steve Weaver, the ascension of Doug Garrett and his pay package from organisation to organisation and the employment of Russ Weaver in a six figure non job suggests that it’s jobs for the boys.
If they bring in someone that has worked in the entertainment industry, preferably is from Blackpool and is going to set some goals for renovating and publicising the place then a few hundred grand is worth it.
But if they choose to create some volunteer groups to help, I’d be up for helping with it without a £100k price tag.
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Thing is though that you need quality people running it who have real expertise in their area. The Grand is run by some pretty successful people giving their time up for free. You don’t get to be a trustee there by volunteering – you are selected for a purpose. And that’s probably why it’s so incredibly well done.
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Yeah, but I’m presuming they’ve got someone overseeing it that has said experience and can pass it on to various associated minions. I wasn’t for one second suggesting I could go and run the Winter Gardens, lol.
Just that I think community groups with a vested interest have to be a good idea, as you demonstrated with your comments about Lowther Gardens etc.
Surely, though, a large part of it has to be securing cash from the various Government funding channels because without that not much can be done.
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Its got to better than the selection process for Chairman at NHS Blackpool. They ‘selected’ Roy Fisher because of his ‘local knowledge’ and ‘experience as Council Leader’ surely that resume is enough to put any public sector employer off, or is it just a coincidence Ivan Taylor is on the Board? He was allowed to wreck Blackpool for 6 years and then he is allowed to wreck the local health service too, I am just lucky I work for the other side of the NHS trust. I can’t stand the thought of having him as my boss.
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Not all the “Friends” groups are run well. The “Grand” type structure though is – and it’s essential for such a large concern as the Winter Gardens or Tower.
My God – have you all seen – Helen France (not a press officer but “Executive Director of Tourism” – doesn’t say if that’s Blackpool, the world or whatever she’s in charge of though) spred all over the story – Phil you could be right about the £400k salary and her running it! Don’t give them anymore ideas.
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Ahh she’s one of “The Six” council executives that are on more than £100k. Maybe she will be running it as part of her current portfolio.
I don’t think they’re getting any ideas from me to be honest: you’ve seen what happens to councillors that come on here!
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I think we should sack all of the Blackpool Six. I bet Alan Cavill that useless pessimist jobsworth that he is, is one of them.
My guess is; Helen France, Steve Weaver, Alan Cavill, Julian Kearsley, ?, ?.
Do we really need SIX people in these positions. I think we should downsize and make it 2 or 3. I mean what does Weaver do? He certainly isn’t helping Blackpool move forward. Him and Fisher have wrecked Blackpool over the stupid casino fiasco.
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Trevor Hemmings,
Roy fisher,
Anal Cavill
Slug garret
Helen france
all get CANCER, millions rejoice!
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I’ve always been sceptical of a ‘Printworks’-style venue – I think it’s a bit horse before the cart, given the fundamental requirements for such a venture – however, in an ideal world where details like that didn’t really matter, I think the Winter Gardens’ Olympia complex would perhaps be suited towards it. After all, it gets very little use these days – it’s no longer suited for conferences and only atrracts junk market stalls infrequently. The rest of the time, it provides a home for pigeons and gets covered in bird shit.
It would also offer some credibility to those who demand that the Winter Gardens be saved no matter what, because it’s “part of our heritage”. Personally, I don’t believe a delapidated 80-year old hall offers the same heritage value as, say, the Grand Theatre – but then again, I didn’t learn about Blackpool’s heritage from Gazette articles asserting that anything standing for longer than five minutes is of historic significance…
Of course, back in the real world, I don’t for one moment think that this should be the council’s concern – as you’d all expect, I think this idea of spunking £40m on buying the assets of a failing business whilst its present owners do a runner is, on the face of it, A Bad Thing.
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True, but the cash is Euroland money that we wouldn’t otherwise get, isn’t it?
A bit like the tram cash: I think that £100million on that is a waste but it’s not like the council are given a bucket with £100million in it to spend on whatever they want.
I think at least this way the Winter Gardens will get some investment whereas with Mr Hemmings it was never going to.
Didn’t Hemmings pick up the Winter Gardens alone for £70million prior to the supercasino bid?
If thats true, then he’s hardly running away scot-free!
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With EU RDF funding (doesn’t really matter which pot), it’s all money that’s originated from the British taxpayer – we’re just getting short-changed, however. We get back far less from the EU than we contribute to it.
Although I also disliked the idea of the council getting involved with building a new conference complex, I would prefer that £40m was spent on something like that – at least it would be a relatively feasible idea that has the potential to add to Blackpool’s portfolio, in turn possibly enhancing the commercial viability and appeal of existing venues like the Tower and Winter Gardens.
The Winter Gardens at present isn’t suitable as a modern conference and events venue – it just can’t compete with what is on offer elsewhere (integrated accommodation, transport, security and modern conveniences). If it’s taking £40m to acquire it, how much more is it going to cost to make it viable? £40m is what it will cost to acquire these shit-tips. How much more to bring them up to scratch? Otherwise, we’re left with a hole burning in our pocket.
Leisure Parcs bought up the First Leisure set for around £85m in total, if I remember correctly. This included the Tower, Winter Gardens complex, three piers, Mr T’s, 50% of Sea Life Centre, Festival Arcarde (now the recently-opened indoor golf course), Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks, Lucky Star arcade, the Clifton Hotel and the Savoy Hotel. Hemmings is (or at least, was) only majority shareholder of Leisure Parcs – the rest is Bank of Scotland and Electra (so in theory, if that’s still the case, the UK taxpayer has an indirect interest in the business already).
Given that Hemmings is running a business and not a charity, I’m inclined to believe that he is either cutting his losses and running (ie, they’re up to their neck in as much financial shit as Pleasure Beach are), leaving the taxpayer with an incredible millstone around its neck, or a deal has been struck that means he’s still quids in (servicing LP’s debts? Exclusive concessions?).
Bear in mind that LP have spent several million in the past 18 months or so refurbishing their venues. I don’t believe that such things would be done with a view to selling the business in the near future.
One final thought on the matter – we’ve all witnessed the incompetence and inertia that the council has wrought on its grand schemes (Talbot Gateway, People’s Playground, the extended tramway, Birley Street, St. John’s Square etc): do we really want these people running businesses? I’m not being flippant, either.
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The money might be from the British taxpayer, but it’s money that’s already been taken off us, that was going to be given to something somewhere in the UK anyway, so on that I don’t really have a problem with them spunking £40million into these buildings.
They say the tower isn’t a loser, so that is at least one dubious asset. I accept the Winter Gardens is a shit hole on the face of it and that it’d probably require a similar amount on top of the acquisition fee spending on it to even contemplate approaching competitive levels.
This is why I thought the Talbot Gateway money could be better spent right here, especially now the Council are getting a £40million head start if the Eurocrats approve it.
I believe all the buildings on Leopold Grove and that other road that it backs on to have been acquired and are to be turned into a hotel within the next 4 or 5 years and the area will become a car park during the transition period, so there’s your accommodation.
They could put a skyway into the Houndshill with a travellator between the Houndshill carpark and the vicinity of said hotel. There’s your car parking, and it’d look pretty cool as well.
All that remains is a viable plan for the building itself…
You’re obviously right that the council couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery and appear to think well inside the box when it comes to devising projects, but done right this Winter Gardens project could be a great success.
There are channels for cash: it doesn’t all have to come from Greedy Gordon and his National Insurance raising army of fruitloops. For example, the Royal Opera House managed to bank £50million in National Lottery funding in 1995.
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