Demolition of the former Southport Theatre and Convention Centre is ‘progressing well’ as construction of the £73m Marine Lake Events Centre draws closer. Tony McDonough reports
Sefton Council says contractor DSM is making good progress on the demolition of the former Southport Theatre and Convention Centre.
When the building is finally demolished it will make way for the new £73m Marine Lake Events Centre (MLEC). When opened the MLEC will see the creation of 290 jobs and a facility that will bring an extra 500,000 people to Southport every year.
Residents and local businesses have been kept regularly updated on the works and Sefton Council continues to hold face-to-face sessions for people nearby to ask questions and raise any concerns.
Prior to the demolition, a number of historical heritage items were removed from the former theatre. They are now being held in safe storage and will be incorporated into the future MLEC site for public viewing.
While most of the work so far has taken place inside the building, an annexe building on site has now been demolished.
Southport Theatre and Convention Centre closed in 2020 amid the COVID pandemic but the council soon put forward proposals to replace it with a world class conference and events facility.
It is one of a number of schemes being developed as a result of the successful bid for £37.5m of Town Deal funding for Southport.
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has approved £17.7m of funding for the centre. This was on top of £2.3m the CA had already committed to the pre-development work.
LBN reported in August 2022 that Sefton Council announced California-based ASM as its preferred partner to run the facility and that partnership was confirmed in December 2023.
Away from the site, Sefton Council and its partners remain fully committed to a social value project which gives back to the community in a number of ways.
Recently the MLEC team, which consists of the local authority and partners including architects AFL and contractor DSM, donated 45 ‘back to school’ kits to local charity Compassion Acts.
These kits will help struggling families keep down costs for essential items pupils need when they return to school in September.
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Councillor Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills, said: “It’s great to see lots of work happening on site and the MLEC project is progressing very well.
“With huge economic and tourism projects such as the MLEC there are lots of things which need to happen behind the scenes that most will never be aware of so for people to be able to see physical demolition work taking place is great.
“Our social value work is a real credit to the kindness and generosity of our project partners and contractors and I would like to thank them again for their incredible kindness in supporting the community in and around Southport.”