Bid to make spa a 'more attractive' wedding venue

Renovations of the Promenade Lounge at Scarborough Spa have been approved

Renovations to make a seaside town's historic spa building "more attractive" as a wedding venue have been given the go-ahead.

North Yorkshire Council approved improvements to Scarborough Spa, including repairs and internal changes to the Promenade Lounge.

The work, including the division of the Promenade Lounge with stud walls and the creation of a storage area, will take place in the 1920s extension to the Spa Complex which is connected to the Georgian and Victorian buildings at the southern end.

There would be no external alterations to the Grade II* listed building, which is a Registered Historic Park and Garden, the plans said, and the council's conservation officers had no objections.

The section of the Spa to be renovated replaced a part of Joseph Paxton's original design, known as Paxton's Tower, with a ballroom, according to the plans.

They said the ballroom had been "subdivided into two floors and this subdivision removed the dramatic volume and original floor-to-ceiling height".

Campaign group the Twentieth Century Society said it supported the internal works "as long as they can be achieved in a manner that is reversible and has minimal impact on the historic fabric of the building".

The council officers concluded that "the interior of this part of the building has been altered to such an extent that very little remains of any 1920s design", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

By refurbishing the Promenade Lounge, it would be far more attractive for weddings, they said.

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