Hi Guys,

Here's the news article, hopefully this one will be accepted, any questions, give me a shout.

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New plans revealed by the Bola brothers for Skegness fire site

Wednesday, 9.20am - A ROLLER disco and ice-skating rink could form part of the Bola brothers' new development in Grand Parade, Skegness.
The brothers have finally submitted amended plans after the site was destroyed by fire more than two years ago.


The plans are for a £6.5m four-storey building called the Sky Pier which will house bars, nightclubs, a food court and an entertainment area on the top floor.


Taj Bola is excited about how it will be received. He said: "There's the potential for a roller disco, ice-skating rink and cyber cafe, with a virtual reality centre, on the top floor - something for younger people. There's nowhere for the youth of Skegness to go, so we want to create something there.


"It's not about just replacing what was there before like everyone else. They've not given it much thought.


"It's not just a bunch of bars and clubs - we've listened to what people want.


"It does depend on the district council supporting us, but if they do, Skegness could have something nowhere else has."


Busters bar will make a comeback, and will be joined by the Tokyo Cocktail Bar, the Retro Cactus Bar, the Dance Bar and a gentleman's club to replace the former Dezire pole-dancing club.


The Bolas have submitted plans before but these were rejected by East Lindsey District Council.


Since then, while Mr Bola has expressed frustration at ELDC's planning department, no formal submissions have been made.


The hole in Skegness' seafront upset a lot of residents, and comparisons have been made with Bells' development next door which is almost finished.


Chairman of Skegness and District Chamber of Commerce Glenis Brown said: "I think Bell getting on with his property took some of the pressure off the Bolas, but it will certainly be very good to see something else there. I hope the plans are suitable for passing. We've had a lot of false starts from them - it has been a real battle.


"It's important the developments complement each other."

Excellent Taj........IMO this is exactly what Skegness is crying out for....Fingers crossed.

Well Done guys. This is precisely the sort of thing Skegness is crying out for. Good luck with the planning permission and lets hope we see this come to fruition.

I was very excited and pleased when I read of the plans in this weeks Standard. These sort of ammenities like an Ice Rink, Roller rink, are just what the town needs.

One question I would like answering is would the ice rink be using proper ice like the use in most public Ice rinks or would it be the panels that were being used near the pier. The panels are not really suitable for serious shaters.

I would like to see more details of the plans but if this is a real attempt at providing some quality ammenities for local young people and holiday makers then I hope that the Council gives its backing as soon as possible.

Hi Guys,

Subject to planning from ELDC, it is very likely that we will do it.

Regarding the question of real ice or syntyhetic ice, this depends to an extent on ELDC support, they have means to access funds from a number of different sources to support comunity projects.

They can spend £11milion on a leisure centre in Louth I gather, so its about time they showed some commitment to Skegness.

I have calculated the numbers and worked on the business model, and it will work in the Skypier whereas it did not work in other locations for the following reasons:-
1) A much better location, being a stones throw from the clock tower
2) Much lower overheads given that the bulk of the overheads will be covered by the bar and club businesses within the building.

This means that if the concept is ever going to work, it stands its best chance in the Skypier.

However, over the coming months I will ask for the ideas from the forum members from any experiences they have so that we may debate them and ensure that what we put in there stands out far byond anything else in the region.

Hopefully ELDC will be open to ideas like this, this is the type of concept Skegness needs. As said above, if they can pay for and give permission for the Louth leisure centre then surley they can see what something like will do for Skegness.

I know its not possible but I would love for the council to put this to a public vote, Im sure that the community would vote hands down for this.

Hi IB

The only portions dependant on the council are as follows.

1) Planning Permission of course
2) Support for the "Real Ice" Skating rink

We will provide all of the other facilities and more regardless

So nows the time to put pen to paper and start pushing the councillors and press to build up some momentum.

Hi,

The planning application has been submitted formally, here is the link.

http://www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/planning/AcolNetCGI.gov?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeResultDetail&TheSystemkey=100344

The Ice Rink will also go in the building on the top floor, regarding support from ELDC for it, well this can come in many ways, ELDC have access to an application process to EMDA, Rural Development, European Money and many more.
They managed to get over £100,000 for the switch on festival and this was just a one off event and not something that would improve the community for the future.
So they could help in quite a few ways.

tajbola wrote (View Post): › The Ice Rink will also go in the building on the top floor,

Thats going to need some serious support on the floor, isnt it something like 1000 liters = 1 metric ton

this sounds like a great idea with the ice rink etc, but surely the ice rink would be on the ground floor possibly with views from outside so people can see everyone having fun and deciding we want some of that, also i would have thought that the top floors would be for the bars so as to take the drinking side away from the streets.when holiday makers and the likes of us caravan owners want to enjoy all that the resort offers it is better when you can just walk in off the street and there it is ( bit like the arcades )also if it was on the top floor,how would you get the big tractor like ice machine up there ?.

The weight problem is not that bad Niceday, if you compare it to the weight of densly packed humans over the same surface area and given that the depth of the ice may only be 150mm or so spread over a large surface area.

Hi vanman,

The problem about putting it on the lower floors is that is would increase the revenue that it was required to generate and that would have an impact on the price to customers, its a fine balance between charging the right price and the right location, thats what I illuded to regarding a viable business model.

I believe the Skypier will be a venue that people will want to explore and will access at all levels because it becomes the hub of "non gambling" entertainment in Skegness.

Thus regardless of the floor, so long as there are express elevators that allow access to all floors, people will come.

On a aside note, I gather people from Skegness travel all the way to Grimsby to go to an Ice Skating Rink, I take the gamble that if they are willing to travel 2 odd miles, they are willing to ascend 2 floor, but I may be wrong.

Miles,
Regarding how much water it would use, lets do the maths
20mx20mx150mm = 60m3, over a 400m2 surface area, easily supportable with a steel / concrete beam structure.

It's business Miles, it's their bread and butter and as long as it works as a business model we'll get arcades.

In this day and age of almost every kid has a console or two I'm surprised it still works as a business model. They must be making less money today than they did when I was a kid, I practically lived in the arcades when I went on holiday here.

My kids have little interest in using arcades because they have several consoles and PCs so gaming is daily thing not once a year when on holiday.

David Law

miles_07 wrote (View Post): › Thats a point - How would the building sustain an ice rink... Niceday wrote (View Post): › Thats going to need some serious support on the floor, isnt it something like 1000 liters = 1 metric ton How many Litres will you use? I dont see how the structure could support such a heavy weight on the upper floor.

This wouldnt be an issue. Ive stayed in a hotel that had a swimming pool on the 20th floor. Lets remember that ice weighs less than water (not by much I know), and as the orignal post said, it a £6.5 million project so its not going to be held together with nails and string. It also makes sense to have the rink on a upper floor, its the old milk and bread thing, the parents take the kids up to the rink, on route they see a nice bar or cafe, drop the kids at the rink and return to the bar for a drink while they wait.

I am well aware that some people will have issues with what ever is built, but whether the ice rink is on the top middle or bottom (to quote the great barrymore lol) isnt a concern, the fact that skegness could have its own, and if im correct in thinking, the only one within 50 miles is a positive thing.