PLEASURE ISLAND ON BRINK OF BEING SOLD
SOME OF PARK’S FAMOUS RIDES ARE NOW SPREAD ACROSS THE WORLD
DEAL ON FORMER THEME PARK LAND CLOSE TO BEING SEALED -
PLEASURE Island is in the final stages of being sold, the Grimsby Telegraph understands.
The iconic Cleethorpes theme park closed at the end of the 2016 season after 23 years of business, with all of the rides and attractions either sold off or left to rot. Since then, the former theme park has looked more and more dystopian as the years have gone by, and rumours about it being sold off for a new development have been circulating for a while.
But now, the Grimsby Telegraph understands that the deal is on the brink of being sealed, with only a few finishing touches left to complete.
The current owner, Melanie Wood, took the park over after it became independent from Flamingo Land, the original subsidiary of the park when it opened on May 27, 1993.
It attracted thousands of visitors each year, until October 2016, when it closed due to dwindling numbers and rising costs.
With the park now looking a shadow of its former self, there have been calls in recent years for someone to take it over and bring something new to Cleethorpes. While it has not been confirmed who is in the process of the buying the land, there are suggestions that it could be developed into a mix of retail and leisure space, possibly including a supermarket and holiday lodges.
There have been calls in recent years to bring back another type of leisure and recreational area on the site, with no one stepping in to fill the gap that Pleasure Island left when it closed.
The land was originally bought in 1991 by Melanie Wood’s father, Robert Gibb, who owned the Flamingo Land theme park in North Yorkshire. Before being transformed into a theme park, it was originally the site of Cleethorpes zoo and the stock car racing stadium.
When Mr Gibb was tragically killed in a car accident in 1995, his wife Maureen and children Vicky, Melanie and Gordon inherited both parks, and created the biggest privately-owned theme park business in the UK. In April 2010, Pleasure Island, with Melanie at the helm, broke away from Flamingo Land, run by her brother Gordon, to become an independent operation.
Back then, it was attracting a quarter-of-a-million visitors from all across the country.
Now, some of the park’s famous rides are spread across the world, from The Boomerang being shipped to Bali to feature on the roof of a shopping mall, to the Carousel being toured around the UK, last spotted in Ireland.
All that remains at Pleasure Island now is the exteriors of the Tommy Tinkaboo Factory and unwanted ride railings.
It is unsure what will become of McCormack’s bar, which is currently closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, as it is the only business still operating on the site. Melanie declined to comment until a deal is finalised and in place.