From Europe’s largest leisure centre to just a pile of rubble
IT was once the pride of Scotland and the envy of everywhere else, a multi-purpose leisure centre which played host to some of the world’s most iconic bands.
The largest leisure centre in Europe put Irvine on the map in 1977 and families flocked from across Scotland to sample its stateof-the-art facilities from the swimming pool and indoor bowls to the cinema and bands’ venue.
It had something for everyone – with bowls and boxing champions crowned, gymnastics displays, dog shows, Frosty’s ice disco and bands from The Jam and The Clash to The Smiths and Chuck Berry.
At one point in the late 70s and early 80s, it averaged a million visitors a year, incredibly making it second in terms of popular Scottish tourist attractions only to Edinburgh Castle.
Now the Magnum in Irvine is but a pile of rubble with the completion of demolition work which is estimated to have cost the council £550,000.
The closure agreed back in 2009, due to dwindling visitor numbers, sparked a public outcry, the likes of which had not been seen in the town since the Auld Brig was knocked down by Irvine Development Corporation to make way for the Rivergate shopping mall in the 1970s.
Taking its place is North Ayrshire Council’s new £20million centre dubbed The Portal.
North Ayrshire Council said as the demolition began: “The demolition of the Magnum will allow the Council to progress with its regeneration plans for the Irvine Harbour area and beyond, and form a component part of the ambitious proposals set out in the Ayrshire Growth Deal.”
Built in 1975 at a cost of £3.2million it was opened a year later by Bruce Millan, the then Secretary of State for Scotland, as the crown jewel of the Beach Park development.
Punters were charged 25p just to take a peek at the behemoth sports complex but, despite that, the Magnum’s high running costs meant the centre relied heavily on subsidies from the local taxpayers.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon once fondly recalled her teenage years and Frosty’s Ice Disco at the Magnum during an appearance on Desert Island Discs three years ago.
She said: “I am an 80s girl at heart.”
She said it was all “pink leg warmers and day-glo orange” at Frosty’s Ice Disco with Wham, Culture Club and Duran Duran and admitted there was a “slight overlap” between her disco skating and her “political awakening”.
The first major concert at the Magnum took place on May 5, 1980 when, at the height of their popularity, Madness rolled into town.
Ms Sturgeon recalled: “The Magnum was probably the first of its kind of these big leisure centres in Irvine where I grew up.
“The ice rink had a Saturday night disco called Frosty’s where we used to skate round and round and round and round to the sound of Wham and Duran Duran and Culture Club and all sorts of delights like that.”
Pictures of the “Magnum hill” – which is all that remains of the sports centre – have appeared on social media
Anne Griffiths said: “This pile of rubble was the Magnum, Irvine. So sad.”
Douglas Clark remarked: “Didn’t realise it was coming down. Many many wild days in there.”