New events centre targeted at lucrative e-sports market
A MODERN events centre planned to replace Southport Theatre and Convention Centre (STCC) could bring together Southport’s past and future according to those behind the plans.
The all new 1,200-seater venue forms the centrepiece of Southport’s bid for a £50m Town Deal fund and is seen as integral to the future of the town’s economy.
The existing STCC has been empty since the start of the pandemic and is in dire need of repairs and refurbishments before it could ever re-open. Instead, the Town Deal board is proposing to replace it with a state-of-the-art facility designed for a range of needs.
The Marine Lake Events Centre - a working title suggested by one of the schoolchildren who responded to the targeted consultation on the project - will provide the town with a flexible events space targeted at the mid-sized conferencing market, but with particular emphasis on the e-sports market.
E-sports is a form of competition involving video games which has exploded in popularity in recent years. It is a billion dollar industry which attracts hundreds of millions of fans worldwide.
The auditorium will also be suitable for large conferences, supported by a fully flexible and sub-divisible spaces, a
1,500 m2 exhibition space capable of hosting over 3,000 people for major e-sports events, and designed to continue to accommodate the type of community-led events currently held in the Floral Hall.
Cllr Ian Maher, leader of Sefton Council, said: “The existing Southport Theatre and Convention Centre has a long and proud history and is an asset that stirs great passion among Sandgrounders, in an incredible location in town, but in need of radical transformation of the building and its offer.
“But the venue closed earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, so this project would redevelop the site creating a new events complex with state-of-the-art technical facilities, to attract a wide range of different types of entertainment events and audiences to Southport.”
As part of the same plans, a fully accessible new pier will extend the connections from the Upper Promenade through the atrium to the Marine Lake and will be completed by a floor lighting feature at the end.
That will connect with the spectacular Light Fantastic installation also proposed for Marine Lake via the Town Deal.
These two spectacular projects together are designed to form a destination which is unique to the UK leisure and conferencing markets, in turn boosting visitor numbers.
Creating over 230 new jobs in the town, plus an additional 160 in its construction, the venue is expected to bring a major boost to Southport’s economy by attracting more than 300,000 new visitors to Southport every year, including more than 100,000 from outside the Liverpool City Region.
Cllr Maher added: “The project is the centrepiece of the Town Deal bid submitted to government on October 30 by the Southport Town Deal board, given the board’s recognition of its importance to the local economy and its prominence in the consultation and engagement feedback.
“It will also be a catalyst for wider investment and development, as evidenced by Go Surf’s vision for the Southport Cove project announced last week.”
Feedback on the Town Deal bid is expected in the New Year.