Work to start on demolition of former Southport theatre

Plans for a new Marine Lake Events Centre were approved last year

Work to transform a seafront site into a £73m events space is set to begin within days, the council has said.

The new Marine Lake Events Centre is due to replace the town's theatre on the seaside resort's promenade.

Sefton Council said it has appointed specialist demolition company the DSM Group to demolish the former Southport Theatre and Convention Centre.

Work will initially begin inside the building and external demolition work is expected to start in early summer.

The former Southport Theatre and Convention Centre will be demolished

Managing director of the DSM Group Andrew Fletcher said the company will work with local residents and businesses to keep disruption during the demolition to a minimum.

The new venue is expected to bring over 500,000 new visitors to Southport each year - generating an annual £18m boost for the local economy, Sefton Council chief executive Phil Porter said.

A number of "culturally important items" have already been salvaged from the former theatre building, including historic projectors, which will be persevered and put on display inside the new Marine Lake Events Centre.

The council previously announced ASM Global will manage the new venue.

Other venues run by the company include the AO Arena in Manchester, The Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, and Soldier Field in Chicago.

Maria Bertelli, the strategic business development director at ASM Global, said the start date for demolition work was "an exciting milestone in the road to completion of the Marine Lake Events Centre".

"We’re pleased to see real progress taking place on site as the vision for this transformative project begins to take shape," she said.