Sad remains venue known Of the seaside to many of us
IT has been five years since a favourite destination for folk from the area closed its doors for good.
Pleasure Island in Cleethorpes attracted thousands of visitors from all over the country each year. The Lincolnshire coast is a holiday spot that is traditionally especially popular with visitors from Burton and Swadlincote.
The site, now a sad reminder of its once glorious days, is set to be bulldozed to make way for a new Lidl and a vast 250-eco lodge holiday centre.
When the family theme park closed in 2016, many of the rides were put up for auction. So now the park lays empty and nature is slowly reclaiming the site.
There are many hidden dangers but that has not deterred urban explorers creeping on to the site. It has become the second highest visited destination by them, and they trespass on the expansive site risking their lives.
Spare a thought for site caretaker Mark Kenyon who has lived on the site for the past four years to prevent people going on and injuring themselves. As well as people going for a swim in the lake, he has also found people in wheelchairs taking a last look around the 54-acre former theme park.
But now the site is about to be bulldozed to make way for a Lidl store and a vast 250-eco lodge holiday centre.
Plans also include a hotel and conference centre and food hall. It will have direct links to the centre of the resort.
Long-time friends Adrian Smith and Ming Yeung plan to transform the site and have unveiled their commitment to create hundreds of jobs in the multimillion investment in their home area. Both say “It will happen.”
Resolvable issues of drainage have held up the project since it was first launched with a fanfare last year.
Our colleagues at Grimsby Live were permitted to take one last look around thanks to the caretaker