Littlehampton’s seafront stage misses summer season

SUMMERTIME seaside band concerts at Littlehampton have been ruled out this year after delays pushed back the start of building work on the new Stage by the Sea performance space.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th Jul 2013, 16:00 BST
An illustration of how the curved structure of The Stage by the Sea could look on Littlehampton seafrontAn illustration of how the curved structure of The Stage by the Sea could look on Littlehampton seafront
An illustration of how the curved structure of The Stage by the Sea could look on Littlehampton seafront

Construction will not start now until early September, as a result of what Litlehampton Town Council describes as ‘a number of unforeseen delays’.

It had been hoped that work would begin at the end of last month and be completed by the end of July, in time for the school holidays.

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However, it was feared that poor weather and other factors could have led to builders still be on site as the peak holiday season got underway.

A town council spokeswoman said: “Officers at the town council have been working tirelessly with contractors and colleagues at Arun District Council to get the work started and finished before the summer season, but due to unforeseen delays it is not possible to achieve the initial deadline.”

Town mayor, councillor Joyce Bowyer, said: “The summer holidays are vitally important to our visitor economy. Although it is extremely disappointing that the Stage by the Sea will not be in place then, it would be even more so if there was an unattractive building site on our seafront.”

Councillor Paul Dendle, Arun’s cabinet member for environmental services, with responsibility for tourism, added: “It is important that enough time is built into this project to avoid any potential delays affecting visitors and tourism businesses here over the busy summer season.

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“However, once Stage by the Sea is in place it will form a great addition to Littlehampton’s fantastic tourism offering.”

The town council plans a launch event at the start of the Easter break in 2014 and will be asking local groups to use the space during that period, to form part of a widely distributed Stage by the Sea Easter programme.

The versatile, curved structure has not one, but two performance spaces. The larger one will face the Banjo Road car park and a smaller one, on the Promenade, will double up as a shelter when not in use, with an undulating grass roof linking the two.

Designed by London architects BFLS, it was the winner of a competition by the town council which attracted 24 entries.