Margate's Dreamland saved by lottery funding
Dreamland Scenic Railway, Margate
Park includes grade II* listed scenic railway
Margate’s Dreamland amusement park has been granted £3 million of funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The money will be added to a £4 million cash injection from Thanet District Council to re-open the historic attraction, including the grade II* listed scenic railway, which was at risk of closure.
Earlier this year conservation group SAVE Britain’s Heritage highlighted the park as one of Thanet’s ‘at-risk’ buildings.
Stuart McLeod, head of the HLF for the south-east said: “As Margate’s answer to an early Disneyland, the fund is delighted to award this substantial investment to Dreamland, and, once restored to its former glory, it will not only bring alive the historic rides of yesteryear but boost tourism too.”
Dreamland Trust will run the park, which could attract 350,000 visitors per year.
The department for culture, media and sport will also pay £3.7 million towards the project.
Related Articles
- Wayne Hemingway to oversee Dreamland design
8 November 2012 | Updated: 8 November 2012 11:18 am
- Margate housing plans were "a pipe dream"
27 August 2012
- Folkestone and Peckham included in £15.9m HLF funding
16 May 2012
- EH considers listing Margate's Arlington House
1 November 2011
- David Chipperfield’s Turner Contemporary Gallery
13 April 2011
Have your say
Sign in to make a comment on this story.
Sign InDesktop Site | Mobile Site
Readers' comments (1)
A revitalised Dreamland based on the restored cinema and an amusement park of historic rides could do more for Margate in terms of regeneration and jobs, at a lot less cash, than the £15m spent on the Turner Contemporary Gallery.
Now it's important that the whole project isn't overshadowed by the proposed Tesco supermarket on the adjacent site.
Richard Evans