Spanish City dome on track for summer

THE Spanish City Dome in Whitley Bay is on course to open this summer as contractors enter the final stages of restoration work.

The historic building is being turned into a leisure hub under a major project led by North Tyneside Council.

A team from Robertson Construction is on site carrying out the job, with the vast majority of the scheme now complete.

Two new extensions have been built, the rotunda has been given a revamp and the building has been repainted. New kitchens and toilets have also been fitted.

Once the work is finished, Kymel Trading Ltd will take over the site and reopen it in the summer with restaurants, bars, conference and party facilities as well as retail units.

Patrick Melia, chief executive of the council, said: “I remember the first time I came here about four years ago – it was a derelict site and needed a lot of work done to it.

“It’s great just to see the progress on the building and how it’s moved on. We’ve fitted the kitchens and toilets, and we are doing the painting today.

“Later this week we will start to lay the flooring. Really what we are doing now is putting in the finishing touches.

“Over the next couple of months, we will be doing the decoration and the fine detail at the end of it that will make the dome somewhere fabulous for people to come and visit.”

Mayor Norma Redfearn added: “It’s going to be fantastic... It really is going to be first class.”