Cleethorpes' iconic Pier marks its 140th anniversary this month, and a consortium of local businesspeople who are hoping to breathe new life into the venue want your views on what its future should hold. Reporter Laura Crombie found out more...
IN ITS heyday, Cleethorpes Pier was the focal point of the resort; a multi-purpose venue where families could go to enjoy the sea air, traditional stalls and be thoroughly entertained.
But fast-forward to today and the landmark building is a shadow of its former self after years of unsuccessful attempts to establish it as a bar and nightclub.
Now, as the building celebrates its 140th anniversary, a consortium of local businesspeople wants the views of Grimsby Telegraph readers on what the pier should become next.
The team, led by Eastern Airways boss Bryan Huxford, is in the process of lodging bids for millions of pounds of lottery funding to regenerate the pier.
Mr Huxford explained: "We have many ideas for what we'd like the pier to become, but our long-term aim is to put the building into the ownership of the community, with us as managers.
"As such, we want to know what people living in Grimsby and Cleethorpes want to see at the pier.
"Our key priority is to get rid of the bar and nightclub label and to turn it into somewhere for shows and entertainment for people of all ages.
"We'd like to see space for conferences and seminars and a facility for crafts and community groups to meet.
"A key priority will also be the creation of a restaurant serving good-quality food at affordable prices, which can be enjoyed by locals and visitors from further afield."
Mr Huxford has currently taken over the lease of the venue from owner Bryn Ilsley on a 12-month contract.
It gives the consortium until July 2014 to secure sufficient funding to return it to its former glory.
And central to Mr Huxford's vision for the pier is to extend it out more than 1,000ft into the Humber, as it stood before the Second World War when its length was seen as a potential target for German submarines (see panel).
He added: "The Pier was once the place to go in Cleethorpes and it remains an iconic structure today.
"It's still used in every photograph promoting the resort, but sadly it's no longer famous for what it has to offer visitors, rather the building itself.
"As it stands at the moment, it's a very short pier and I believe that by creating a walkway out to a second pavilion, where the end of the pier once stood, we could create a fantastic attraction here."
With a recent People's Piers report by the Co-operative revealing 57 piers in the UK are under threat – not only from corrosive waters but from cycles of neglectful ownership – it seems the fate of Cleethorpes' attraction could be in safe hands.
Report author Jess Steele believes taking piers into community ownership – which is being pioneered for Hastings Pier – could be the answer to the problem of demise.
And that is the blueprint for success for Mr Huxford and his fellow consortium members, including: Simon Huxford; former seafood executives Mike Parker and Frank Flear, ex port director Dennis Dunn; Laceby Manor owner Roger Burnett, and former Grimsby Town Centre Forum manager Dave Ranshaw.
He added: "We have all had some degree of success in our chosen fields and we owe that success to this area.
"This isn't about us making money, it's about giving something back to the area that has done so much for us.
"I remember the pier in its heyday, as do many people, and there is a lot of nostalgia about what it once was.
"If we can secure funding for the work we want to do and then place the pier into community ownership, then I believe it could act as a catalyst for the rest of the area.
"Regeneration leads to an improvement in people's attitude and we believe the pier can be at the forefront of that."
To have your say on the future of Cleethorpes Pier, fill in the form at www.thepiercleethorpes.co.uk, post your views on www.facebook.com/thepiercleethorpes, or Tweet @PierCleethorpes
ON THE WEB: Visit www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk for more photographs from the Pier's past.