Council looks to reignite Blackpool Central plans
A tender exercise has been launched by Blackpool Council, which wants to appoint a consultancy to attract international investors to the £300m project.
The 10-acre Blackpool Central site sits in the shadow of Blackpool Tower, accessible both via a direct road from the M55 and from Blackpool Promenade.
Before the developer went into administration late last year, Nikal had been in place as developer to take forward the project.
The proposals included a 1,300-space car park – which opened last year – 127,000 sq ft flying theatre, two indoor theme parks, a 200-bedroom hotel, 70,000 sq ft public square, and an array of bars and restaurants in the heart of the seaside town.
Outline planning permission is established for all that, with full planning permission in place to create a heritage quarter converting the King Edward VII cinema and apartments into a food and drink hall, aparthotel and retail space.
Once the site of Blackpool Central train station, the council is currently clearing the land to create a shovel ready site.
Work to demolish the final structures – a police station and courts building – is expected to complete this summer. This has been supported by a £6.95m grant by central government as part of the Blackpool Town Deal.
Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “Blackpool Central sits right at the heart of our plans to make Blackpool better for everybody.
“I believe that this is one of the most exciting leisure development opportunities in the country. I look forward to finding a company that shares our vision for a world-class leisure development which creates jobs for our local people, extends our tourism season and supports our local economy to grow.”
The aspiration is that Blackpool Central will add to the town’s £1.98bn visitor economy, which already supports over 22,000 jobs in the area.
The tender exercise runs until 6 June 2025. Full details can be found at this link.
The scheme needs rethinking, I doubt the flying theatre etc. would have worked long term. There should be a better link to the promenade with the Golden Mile amusements site including as a minimum but ideally the Sealife to Tussauds block redeveloped as well with the attractions improved / relocated within the development. I do think a 12k+ capacity indoor arena should be part of the development along with other all year attractions. It should be considered if the heritage quarter can’t proceed separately in advance.
By Dom
Universal Studios UK this will not be. The Pleasure Beach should be looking at this and ‘own’ the resort.
By Katie
Not the greatest idea. Need money spent on the local roads pavements etc.
By Anonymous
Have you honestly walked down bond / Bolton street lytham rd , central drive.? I love Blackpool but get real and stop giving money away on consulting companies in London who haven’t a clue about us.
By Derek
The money should be spent on pavements, painting all the railings along the promenade.
An indoor arena would be good, does not have to be the biggest but good enough for stars to want to come and play, act or one man / woman talks.
By Gary
Blackpool should have a top class arena like the one in Liverpool built on the same size footprint. Get Blackpool back to to top of being entertainment capital of England 👍
By Ian
One thing for sure, a brewery’s out.
By Mick
I only hope the council pick a decent company for the tender,there skill at this has not been great over the years
By Michael clague