A historic building that holds memories for thousands 'has no place' in the multimillion-pound future of a Merseyside town.
Southport Theatre and Convention Centre (STCC), the building that homes the Floral Hall, is set to be transformed from the ground upwards according to plans for the all-new Marine Lake Events Centre that is coming to Southport as part of the Town Deal.
The space will see part of Marine Lakeside completely redesigned as millions are poured into the redevelopment of the town.
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Founder of the Facebook group Save Southport Theatre and Convention Centre, which accumulated more than 6,000 members in a matter of months when the STCC originally shut down, has spoken out about how she understands that the future doesn't hold a place for the building, but remains disappointed.
Lisa Kelly was made redundant in 2020 after working part-time at the STCC for 20 years. One night she decided to form the Facebook group in the hope of reopening the building - not to regain her job, but to save the building itself.
The building was forced to shut its doors permanently after the company running the venue, Bliss Space, went into liquidation.
Since then it has remained shut and will do so until it is transformed.
Lisa told the ECHO: "I'd still like it saved, of course I would, especially the Floral Hall. The theatre has got issues, I have to admit that it has, but the Floral Hall is the biggest benefit. It's a great money earner for the town.
"It would have been good if businesses across the town got on board to save it from the beginning but they didn't. I went as far as I could but how far can you get when they've already got the funding for this project. They're not going to hand the £37m back and say 'yeah, we'll save it'.
"Not everyone wants it, a lot of people want a brand new venue, they don't see the benefit. They're the ones who have never been there, never danced on the floor and never realised what a benefit it is. They're not bothered. It's a tough one.
"There are no clauses on it, it should've been made as Kings Gardens are, protected. It should have been protected but it wasn't."
Dates have not been confirmed for the work to begin on the Marine Lake Events Centre, but it will see a complete redesign of the area.
A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: “We fully recognise and understand the community desire to ensure there is a dedicated performance space available in the town centre to complement the existing entertainment offers of The Atkinson, Little Theatre and more in the resort.
“As the largest investment project included within the Southport Town Deal, the Marine Lake Events Centre, a working title suggested by one of more than one thousand school children who responded positively to the targeted consultation on the project, will provide Southport with an incredible events space with state-of-the-art facilities to attract a continuous and wide range of different types of entertainment events and audiences to the resort.
“It is believed the creation of the Marine Lake Events Centre will lead to footfall of over 515,000 visitors to the waterfront. It is also expected to create 288 jobs and boost the town's hotel and hospitality sector with nearly 60,000 overnight stays from conferences and events alone.
“The Southport Theatre and Convention Centre building currently remains closed until these works are completed, as it has been since the operating partner for the venue after Bliss Space (Southport) Ltd, the company brought in to run the Southport Theatre and Convention Centre (STCC), was placed into liquidation.”
“Further updates and stakeholder engagement will progress in the coming months.”
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