Council close to sealing Blackpool Tower deal
BLACKPOOL Council is expecting to take ownership of the town’s famous Blackpool Tower next week.
The council has put together a £40m bid to buy the landmark from the Lancashire tycoon Trevor Hemmings. The Winter Gardens and Louis Tussauds waxworks are also included in the deal.
The acquisition is considered crucial to the ongoing regeneration of the town. Council chiefs are hoping to tap into heritage funds and secure backing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
According to an update on the resort’s masterplan, prepared for a meeting of the council’s tourism and regeneration committee on April 1, the deal should go through by the end of March.
It states: “It is hoped that both property acquisition and operator appointment will be completed by the end of March 2010 and a verbal update on this will be provided at the committee meeting.”
The authority has been seeking an operator to run the tourist attractions on a 20-year lease. The suitable operator must have previous experience of running a “world class” resort with more than 250,000 visitors.
