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Having last week agreed business case approval for its planned new Marine Lake Events Centre in Southport, Sefton Council is about to start investigatory works to finalise the Venue’s design and development.

Letters have been sent to local residents to inform them that investigatory works on the existing Southport Theatre and Convention Centre site and the Upper Promenade, will start on Monday 8th August.

Progress

Expected to take around four weeks, Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, the investigations will involve assessing the underground conditions to progress the design further. Measures will be in place to minimise disruption to local residents, businesses and neighbours.

After approving the business case for the Marine Lake Events Centre & Water and Light Show project in Southport, Sefton Council is now keen to progress the scheme as quickly as possible.

Exciting and important

Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, Cllr Marion Atkinson said: “The Marine Lake Events Centre is a hugely exciting and hugely important scheme for Southport and Sefton.

“The Centre is forecast to attract more than half a million visitors to Southport year on year and generating an annual £18 million for the local economy so I am pleased to see work to progress getting underway so soon after receiving Council Cabinet backing.

“We now need the Government to release the funding we need to make the Centre a reality as soon as possible.”

Agreed

Plans to procure a Design & Build contractor and an Operating Partner for the venue were also agreed at the recent Sefton Council Cabinet meeting. A detailed planning application has already been submitted.

The Marine Lake Events Centre is one of the schemes being develop as a result of the successful bid for £37.5m of Town Deal funding for Southport. It will see Southport’s Theatre and Convention Centre transformed into a high-quality entertainment and business events venue

The new Centre will be complemented by the UK’s first light, water and sound show in the town’s Marine Lake.

Milestone

Cllr Atkinson also talked about the work that has gone into getting the scheme to this stage. She said: “I would like to thank all the Sefton Council staff involved for the huge efforts that has gone into reaching this important milestone for the Southport Marine Lake Events Centre, and my Cabinet colleagues for their support.

“This and the other Town Deal schemes will be a game-changers for the economy of Southport and Sefton and will provide a huge boost for local businesses as well as opportunities for new ones.

“It’s critical that we can now get on and deliver for the residents of Sefton.”

Deal

Another key scheme made possible through the Town Deal are the Enterprise Arcade, which will see Crown Buildings refurbished to create new business incubator space, supporting Southport’s emerging creative, digital and tech sector.

Also, Les Transformations de Southport, will see the development of high-quality public spaces and an accessible and well-connected transport network, providing priority for walking and cycling in support of clean growth.

All of the schemes will be supported by a comprehensive programme of work to ensure visitors to Sefton, and the town’s residents enjoy across-the-board, high-quality Customer service.

You can find the July Cabinet Meeting papers here.

A 1.7-metre-high globe designed by artist Amy Bourbon is coming to Sefton as part of The World Reimagined, a ground-breaking art education project.

The World Reimagined is a national initiative to transform how we understand the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans and its impact on all of us.

Host locations around the country are getting ready to welcome their Globes, which will be officially unveiled, nationally, on Saturday 13^th August.

Sefton’s main globe, which will be at The Strand in Bootle, is entitled Echoes of the Present and is the sixth step on the overall Journey of Discovery the globes represent. It focuses on how the Transatlantic Slave Trade has present day negative consequences such as systemic inequalities and injustice and entrenched racism and prejudices. It also looks at the generational echoes their traumatic physical, behavioural, psychological and material consequences.

Seaforth in the south of Sefton has a heritage that has connections to the slave trade. Most notable is John Gladstone, an owner of sugar plantations in the West Indies, whose family estate whose family estate resided in the area.

As well as the main installation at Marine Gardens, there will be a community learning globe located in the foyer of Southport’s Atkinson theatre. This has been co-produced by Christ the King School in Southport working with the Southport Against Racism community group.  Significant individuals important to both global and local history, including civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Liverpool football player Mo Salah will be featured on the community learning globe.

Additionally, smaller globes have been awarded to six Sefton schools, to help teach pupils more about the history they represent. As the project is being launched during the summer holidays, the globes will initially go on display in the foyer at Crosby Library and will be transferred to the schools themselves once the project concludes at the end of October.

The globes will bring people together and allow them to engage in complex conversations around who we are as a society; stimulate dialogue, raise consciousness, and create social change. It goes beyond just exploring the legacy of the Transatlantic Enslavement of Africans – as the project celebrates and champions the story of people of African origin.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said:
“It’s wonderful to see The World Reimagined come to Sefton, I am so glad we are hosting a globe as part of this national initiative to raise awareness of the Transatlantic Slave Trade’s impact.

“That history and the history of our Borough our intertwined, and I am looking forward to seeing our communities and schools engage with the globes both to become more aware of our past but also in discussing our future.”

Michelle Gayle, Co-Founder of the project said: “There is such a huge part of the British educational system – the history – that omits Britain’s true role in the Transatlantic Trade of Enslaved Africans and the impact its legacies have on our world today. I have seen some of the incredible works these artists have put into designing their globes, and cannot wait for everyone across the country to experience the wonder, vibrancy and impact of art.”

People can find out more about the World Reimagined project and the Journey of Discovery at www.theworldreimagined.org/journey-of-discovery