Attempt to salvage heritage in new pier

Jan Melrose - The Argus Friday, 7 January, 2005

CITY leaders in Brighton and Hove have welcomed proposals to use salvaged historical artefacts to build a new West Pier.

The famous Brighton landmark is beyond repair after being repeatedly battered by the elements and many had feared it Would eventually crumble into the sea.

But Brighton and Hove City Council leaders met members of the West Pier Trust yesterday to discuss the possibility of using parts salvaged from the Victorian structure to build a new pier.

Council chief executive Alan McCarthy and council leader Ken Bodfish met Dr Geoff Lockwood, chief executive of the trust, and English Heritage.

Dr Lockwood, who has campaigned to save Eugenius Birch's 1866 architectural vision for 11 years, said: "The council and English Heritage have agreed to work jointly on the vision of a new West Pier.

"The idea is going forward and there is a lot to be considered.

"There is an excitement about the idea of world-class 21st Century architecture involving heritage on that site. We are protecting some of our past heritage and creating future heritage."

Restoring the pier to its 19th Century glory was deemed an unlikely prospect after the structure was ravaged by fire and Heritage Lottery funding was withdrawn last January. Since then, the concert hall has been further damaged by strong winds.

But plans to build another West Pier complete with a multipurpose concert hall, salvaged ticket kiosks, original railings and serpent lights have taken a step forward.

In The Argus on Wednesday, Dr Lockwood hinted a new pier might be built around the wreckage of the old structure but initial sketches and plans had yet to be drawn up. One crucial difference between building a new structure and previous restoration ideas is the source of the funding.

Past ideas have relied on public money but the new project, which could cost up to £50 million, would be almost entirely privately funded.

Coun Bodfish said: "We are supportive of the trust's desire to see a world-class development.

"Our planning officers are going to look at what might be included in a development brief and how it relates to the site and other major developments planned for the seafront, such as King Alfred and a replacement for the Brighton Centre.

"We are not initiating the project but we are prepared to look at it.

"If something were to go ahead, we would want a world-class construct that would be as significant a piece of architecture, as the West Pier was to its time.

"But the crunch question will be whether such a scheme can be made financially viable."