New hotel will honour legendary Dixie Dean
A new four-star hotel commemorating Everton Football Club legend Dixie Dean is set to open in Liverpool city centre in summer 2018.
Hotel operator Signature Living, the Liverpool-based firm behind the Shankly Hotel, will start work on turning the gothic Jerome and Carlisle Buildings into a luxury 100-bedroom hotel in September.
The new hotel forms part of a plan to create a world-first ‘Football Quarter’ in Liverpool’s centre, boosting the city’s tourism offer and creating hundreds more jobs locally.
The Dixie Dean is situated directly opposite the Shankly Hotel (themed around Liverpool manager Bill Shankly) on Victoria Street. It means football fans coming to Liverpool can opt to stay in a hotel devoted to either a Liverpool or Everton legend.
Like the Shankly, the Dixie Dean Hotel will showcase memorabilia from the centre forward’s career. Dean’s family, incuding daughter Barbara Dean and granddaughter Melanie Prentice, fully support the project.
Dixie Dean, born in 1907, was a player of legendary ability. In a match against Chelsea in 1931 he scored five times in the first 32 minutes.
Dean scored 349 goals in 399 matches with Everton and it’s thought that in today’s transfer market, he’d be worth more than £100m.
Members of the Dean family attended Friday’s (July 28) launch. His granddaughter Melanie Prentice, said: “The Dixie Dean hotel cements my grandfather’s status as a footballing icon, and I couldn’t be prouder of the amazing plans for this hotel.
“Dixie was great friends with Bill Shankly. They had an enduring friendship despite representing rival teams, so it’s good to see them commemorated side by side. It means their legends will live on.”
Signature Living founder Lawrence Kenwright said: “This project will help further regenerate what was, until recently, a forgotten corner of the city centre. It’s now thriving, with top hotels, restaurants and bars.
“We expect our planned ‘Football Quarter’ to create hundreds of jobs, attract further investment into Liverpool and boost this brilliant city’s tourism offer.”
The 65,000sq ft hotel will have numerous restaurants, bars and an events space for weddings.
