Buildings that Blackpool was stupid to get rid of

JJpool

JJpool

Well-known member
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After getting rid of this then there was the brilliant...

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Never forgave the council for getting rid of this for a carpark 😡

Not sure who was making decisions about the older historic building preservation in Blackpool way back when, but what were they thinking.

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I bet there's more they could have kept.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
But they're still flogging off the green space used by locals.
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The golf course? But there is more pressure on them now to not only keep other green spaces, but to create more and plant all those trees too.

Sadly, limited space in the boundary means they will always look to use what someone thinks we should keep.

I guess how close they get with their plan will show us if they have learned anything...
 
JJpool said:
Who actually made that decision though? Why would the council allow history to be destroyed so easily for something so bland. 😡
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Probably cost of maintenance. I think the Palace ballroom went because ballroom dancing was in decline but the town still had the Tower Ballroom.
The town was in steady decline by the mid 60s. Blame Elvis ;) If it had to be replaced they should've built the Mecca on that site next to the tower. Now that would've been a decent replacement for modern times.
 
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kuriousoranj said:
Probably cost of maintenance. I think the Palace ballroom went because ballroom dancing was in decline and we still had the Tower Ballroom.
The town was in steady decline by the mid 60s. Blame Elvis ;)
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Effort should have been made to keep more historical buildings.
 
Always suspicious of the ‘accidental’ fire which took out the Fun House in the Pleasure Beach. Listed building but it’s destruction made way conveniently for what is now Valhalla. Planners must have been insane to allow some of those old buildings to be replaced by concrete eye sores.
 
fcblackpool said:
Look at that. Amazing.

How come other towns have kept these types of buildings?
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Good question!

I think they felt pressured to keep reinventing the town, particularly by the mid 60s when visitors were in steady decline.
When you look back whoever made these decisions panicked because Blackpool was a a monument to Victorian and Edwardian splendour most of which has gone or fallen down. It's sad because had it been saved the town would now appeal to another, more affluent visitor.
 
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As part of the Tower/Winter Gardens The Grand (All owned by EMI then) I worked for a day or so in the Grand in preparation for it becoming a bingo hall & had a right good look around & even at 17 I found it fascinating. Very similar dressing rooms etc to the other 2 venues. I just wish I'd taken more photos, but it was expensive in those days & ate into the beer fund. The Opera house stage lighting board was something else, until we replaced it with a thyristor controlled dimming system, prior to that the dimming was done with huge banks of resistors & generated a massive amount of heat, the old one took at least 2 people to operate & they described it as like driving a tram (bloody hard work)
 
Wow that brings back happy memories Sooty, the old Mecca building. Amazing how quickly you forget these places once they’re gone. Used to go there in the 70’s as a young child when the Police used it for Christmas parties for all the children of Police officers and then later spent many a night in the Commonwealth playing Snooker. Wish there was a snooker hall like that in town now.
 
St_Ives_Seasider said:
Wow that brings back happy memories Sooty, the old Mecca building. Amazing how quickly you forget these places once they’re gone. Used to go there in the 70’s as a young child when the Police used it for Christmas parties for all the children of Police officers and then later spent many a night in the Commonwealth playing Snooker. Wish there was a snooker hall like that in town now.
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Spot on St_Ives, double whammy in that it was a great dance venue, northern soul in the highland room upstairs & later we joined the commonwealth club. Vaguely remember Stephen Hendry practicing in there.
 
Some belters, they have never been the sharpest tools in the box the local authorities have they.
 
St_Ives_Seasider said:
Wow that brings back happy memories Sooty, the old Mecca building. Amazing how quickly you forget these places once they’re gone. Used to go there in the 70’s as a young child when the Police used it for Christmas parties for all the children of Police officers and then later spent many a night in the Commonwealth playing Snooker. Wish there was a snooker hall like that in town now.
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Yep. I used to play snooker in the Commonwealth. Great atmosphere in snooker halls. Dimly lit apart from the big lights over the tables. Very quiet; the only sounds of the snooker balls clicking and muttered swear words when you balls up a shot.

First place I ever played Space Invaders too.
 
JJpool said:
The sandcastle is great, but no reason for not keeping that open aired baths, miles of coast and a simple headland build and you put the sandcastle anywhere.

No idea why some of this stuff had to go.
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My Old man was window cleaner many many years ago.
 
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