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BLACKPOOL Tower and Winter Gardens were today sold to the resort in a £40m deal.
The iconic buildings – together with a host of other Golden Mile attractions – are now in public ownership for the first time in their illustrious history.

A combination of local and central government cash has been used to buy the resort's tourism crown jewels from Sir Trevor Hemmings' Leisure Parcs group.

And The Gazette can exclusively reveal Merlin Entertainments Group – operators of such landmark attractions as the London Eye and Legoland – will take over running the Tower from the end of this year's Illuminations season.

The deal will also see £5.5m immediately spent on revamping areas of the aging Winter Gardens, primarily to bring in more conferences.

Council Leader Peter Callow described today's news as a "massive boost for Blackpool" while Blackpool South MP Gordon Marsden said the landmark deal was a "major opportunity" to not only protect the resort's key assets but to see them prosper in the 21st century.

The deal – which totals £38.9m – was rubber stamped this morning by the Government's Department of Communities and Local Government.

It said this would:
- Facilitate the purchase of The Tower, Winter Gardens, Sea Life Centre, Louis Tussauds, the Indoor Golf Centre, Bonny Street Market and Mr T's Amusement Arcade.
- Fund a £10m programme of repairs for The Tower. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in time for the beginning of the 2011 tourism season.
- The Winter Gardens will undergo a first phase refurbishment of £5.5m to create a new mid-size, multi purpose conferencing venue. This first phase will focus on upgrading the Pavilion and Arena areas.
- World renowned operator Merlin will take over running The Tower, while Louis Tussauds will be transformed into a northern home for the bigger Madame Tussauds brand.

It is anticipated there will be 800,000 more visitors a year to The Tower following its revamp - which will include a new entrance - almost doubling the current visitor numbers and bringing an additional visitor spend to the resort of £36m per year.

The whole package should create an estimated 1,000 jobs, the Government said.

Blackpool gazette