End of the highbrow pier show in Hastings
Owner and architect fight as slot machines will once again ring out two years after £11m refurbishment
WHEN Hastings Pier was rebuilt by an award-winning architect, it was intended to be a space for “social inspiration” and become a cultural landmark.
But its new owner has decided that the town has no “high culture people” and there is more of a market for amusement arcades.
Sheikh Abid Gulzar, the businessman who bought the pier last June, has been criticised for wanting to convert the visitor centre into an amusement hall. In turn he has accused the architect, Alex de Rijke, of snobbery. Mr de Rijke, whose firm DRMM revitalised the pier in 2016, said the plans went against the purpose of the redesign and would encourage children to gamble.
The grade Ii-listed structure, which won the Stirling Prize in 2017, includes an educational centre, a community space, a café and a viewing terrace. The redesign set out to replace an “outdated amusement arcade model”.
Mr de Rijke, who was born in the Netherlands, told The Architects’ Journal: “Hastings Pier visitor centre was paid for by Heritage Lottery, whose criterion was that the building be used for education. Its conversion to slot machine arcades is inviting children to learn to gamble in the dark.”
His remarks angered Mr Gulzar, who bought the pier for a reported £50,000 after the charity that owned it entered administration. Mr Gulzar, who has owned Eastbourne pier since 2015, accused Mr de Rijke of “cowardice” for not speaking to him personally about his objections and said he wanted the pier to be available to everyone. This month Hastings council approved Mr Gulzar’s plans to fit arcade machines. He told The Daily Telegraph: “There aren’t high-culture people around here. There are ordinary housewives and greengrocers that use the pier. We want to attract families, young children and old people.”
Amber Rudd, the town’s MP, said: “I am shocked to hear local residents described like that.
“From the heritage of 1066 to the unique Jerwood Gallery, Hastings is a cultural jewel in Britain’s coast.”
Mr Gulzar was born in India and arrived in Britain in 1965 at the age of 19. He made a fortune in leather and cotton before becoming a hotelier. His company Lions Hotel operates two hotels in Eastbourne and one in Hailsham, also in East Sussex.
The 74-year-old businessman, who drives a gold-painted Mercedes and is nicknamed “Goldfinger”, was accused of taking the seafront landmark downmarket when he erected golden hippopotamuses along the wooden walkway.
He has insisted that the new amusement centre will boost visitor numbers. “I think the machines will be a good thing that uplifts people. I want there to be an area in the middle for teas and sandwiches. For hundreds of years piers have been well known for [this sort of thing].”
The wooden pier, which opened in 1872, was almost destroyed by fire in 2010. It was rebuilt with a £11.4m grant and reopened in 2016. But has since been closed for repairs.
Heritage Lottery said any plans were a matter for the pier’s owner. Mr de Rijke and DRMM did not respond to a request for comment.
Alex de Rijke
‘Heritage Lottery’s criterion was that the building be used for education’ – not slot machines
Sheikh Abid Gulzar
‘There aren’t high-culture people around here. We want to attract families, children and old people’