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Last to go – Gardens famous old pavilion
THESE are the last images of the "outdated" 1970s Ashton Gardens pavilion.
The former cafe and bowling outhouse is the last building to be demolished as part of the 2m Lottery-funded scheme to refurbish th e St Annes park.
Foundations have now been laid for the new pavilion – Ashton Institute – and landscaping and improvements to the play area will also be carried out.
The lodge houses, on either side of Ashton Institute, are also being re-rendered, and each of the roofs repaired.
The building to the right of the new pavilion will house a visitor centre, and is set to be completed within the next two weeks.
Leader of Fylde Council, Coun John Coombes, was delighted.
He said: “The outdated 1970s-style building is now being demolished, and means we can really get on with rebuilding the park.
“The foundations have now been laid for the new pavilion, and the engineers can start building upwards.
“There will be a cafe within the building, and we can now start to lay down the piazza, where people can hopefully enjoy the sunshine.”
Demolition work was carried out a year ago on another pavilion – the cricket-club style building – in the park.
It was knocked down to make way for a new one between the lodge houses on St George’s Road.
Specialist heritage engineers have been recruited to create a new pavilion as a replica of the grand building built in 1874, which burned down more than 100 years ago.
The gardens – which were saved by Lord Ashton in 1914 when he stepped in to buy them from the council – also features a war memorial, erected in 1924, and a bowls pavilion added in 1947.
Future
The memorial will be cleaned, repainted and lit, while cast iron railings taken down during the Second World War will be replaced.
Mr Coombes added: “We are thinking about putting a beautiful atrium on the site of the old cafe that’s being demolished at the moment, but this may have to be incorporated in a future scheme. Right now we will put flower beds there.”
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Weather for Blackpool
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 32 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 28 mph
Wind direction: North west
