Redevelopment of Great Yarmouth’s 40-year-old Marina Centre is scheduled to start on Monday, February 3, with demolition crews moving in to clear and prepare the seafront site for construction of an exciting new state-of-the-art Water and Leisure Complex.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s once-in-a-generation £26m investment will be a major year-round boost to the economy and community for decades to come, acting as a catalyst for potential further investment, whilst supporting health and well-being across the borough.
The new Marina Centre will create a truly year-round anchor attraction on the Golden Mile, including a six-lane 25m pool with full disabled access and suitable for competitions and galas, a confidence water area and learner pool with moveable floor, leisure water with fun play features, two water flumes and a splash pad.
The complex will also be equipped with a health suite with sauna, steam and spa, 100-station health and fitness gym with views to the sea, four-court multi-purpose sports hall, fitness and spin studios, indoor climbing zone for all ages, and a café with fabulous views to the beach.
To pave the way for this exciting new beginning, the council’s demolition contractor McFletch is scheduled to move onto site on Monday. After two weeks of site set-up, installation of hoardings and mobilisation activity, the site is scheduled to be levelled within three months to enable construction to commence in late spring. Material from the old centre will be re-used as part of the groundworks. The new complex is scheduled to open during summer 2021.
During the works, plans are in place to minimise any temporary impact on the seafront, which is already significantly reduced as the new centre is being built on the site of the old one. In addition, the wooden hoardings along the whole Marine Parade frontage will be decorated with a beautiful artwork telling the story of the redevelopment project and the seafront itself, including lovely photos from across the decades.
Cllr Carl Smith and Cllr Trevor Wainwright, leaders of the main political groups, said: “Following significant project development, the start of on-site works is hugely exciting as the council continues to drive forward this once-in-a-generation investment for the borough. The impressive new Marina Centre will be a game-charger, acting as both a catalyst for potential further investment and an important hub to support community health, well-being and fitness.
“The old Marina Centre was great in its day but has come to the end of its life, and its redevelopment is an exciting new beginning as part of our regeneration ambitions for the seafront and wider borough. This is about the future: the sort of facility we want our children and grandchildren to have and enjoy.
“Over the coming months, we’re sure that residents and visitors will watch with interest as the site is carefully levelled and cleared, opening up long-hidden views, and the new state-of-the-art landmark facility takes shape, benefitting the seafront and whole borough for up to 40 years.”
For more information about the project, including a Q&A, artist’s impressions and walk-through video, please visit www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/
Seven of Great Yarmouth's most iconic buildings will be having festive light ups for the upcoming Christmas holiday.
The council will once again switch on the lighting on the Town Hall, St George's Theatre, the Tolhouse, the Minster Church of St Nicholas, the Arc Cinema at the Royalty, the North West Tower and Gorleston Pavilion.
The collection includes five listed buildings and a scheduled monument, with all the buildings representing a special place in the town's history and cultural life.
The lighting has been used to highlight various local and national issues since its installation. In April 2020, the Town Hall bathed in blue light to praise key workers on the coronavirus frontline and in February 2022, the buildings were lit up mauve and green to highlight the needs and care of people living with a rare disease.
Thanks to public feedback, a walking trail to highlight some of the tremendous 'ghost signs' in the town centre has successfully launched.
Time and Tide Museum and Great Yarmouth Borough Council teamed up to create a trail that would send participants back in time whilst exploring the parts of the borough’s history which are hidden in plain sight.
'Ghost signs' are old shop signs and architectural features that have survived despite changes in the use of buildings.
The trail team asked residents to share their memories, photographs, and other images and that has helped create a unique downloadable map that can be used to explore the historical advertising and signs across the Town Centre.
As part of community consultation work around an ambitious project to restore the Winter Gardens, Great Yarmouth Borough Council has been engaging with young people to find out what students would like to see as part of the exciting regeneration scheme.
The Winter Gardens is the last surviving Victorian glass house in the country and, in 2021, was one of five transformational projects across the country to be awarded a Heritage Horizon Award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The award will see the iron and glass structure restored to its former glory as a people’s palace on the town’s seafront. Complete with beautiful gardens, galleries and café areas it will offer both entertainment and education, breathing new life into the area.
Rachel Daniel, the council’s Winter Gardens partnership and engagement co-ordinator - along with Time and Tide Museum’s youth engagement officer, Tricia Hall - recently took part in a Green Week event at Great Yarmouth’s East Norfolk Sixth Form College.
Working with Great Yarmouth community organisation Creative Collisions, the pair spent the day talking to students about the environmental features of the project, covering everything from planting ideas to sustainability solutions.
Businesses and would-be entrepreneurs around Great Yarmouth now have easy access to free business support and advice thanks to the launch of an exciting new Enterprise Hub.Great Yarmouth Borough Council has teamed up with the Town Centre Partnership to launch the service in Market Gates Shopping Centre.
The Hub is a new one stop shop for start-up, new and more established businesses and offers business advice, support, and training. Businesses can also book the space for their own business events.
The opening times are 10am – 4pm on, Monday to Friday. His Worship the Mayor, Cllr Graham Plant, officially opened the Enterprise Hub with a ribbon cutting on Wednesday 10, August at 11am, which was followed by refreshments and networking.
An innovative campaign to reduce plastics left on local beaches has launched today, with the aim of highlighting the importance of disposing of waste correctly.
Three new permanent #BottleShipsGY art installations have been installed in Great Yarmouth, Hemsby and Gorleston aimed at encouraging beachgoers to dispose of their plastic drinks bottles correctly, preventing them from entering the sea.
Each ship has been designed by artists Hatty + Young and has been inspired by vessels that form part of our proud maritime history, featuring plaques with historic information on each ship. Great Yarmouth Jetty saw the arrival of HMS Elephant, the Lydia Eva landed in Gorleston and Hemsby pays homage to its lifeboat, Sea Weaver. The BottleShips will fill with plastic bottles which will be collected for recycling.