The Tropicana, formerly a Lido site that once contained an outdoor swimming pool, is located in the seaside town of

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, England. It is located on the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Se ...

coast, on the southern section of the seafront. The iconic seafront landmark re-opened in 2015 following fifteen years of closure, with the creation of the Bay Café licensed café and lounge. The venue now offers multi-use indoor and outdoor event space, with capacities suitable of accommodating a diverse range of events including corporate, charity, exhibitions, music, arts and culture events.

Construction

The site was first developed as a swimming pool in 1937 and included an

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

diving board. At the time it had the highest diving board and was the largest open air swimming pool in Europe. When it was opened it was simply known as "The Pool", becoming branded as Tropicana in 1983. The

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

diving board was demolished in 1982. As part of the rebranding, features such as slides, a wave machine were introduced. The Tropicana had enormous fruits as a feature and adopted the tag line, "It's fun and fruity. It's wet and wild". It remained a popular attraction for many years.

Redevelopment plans

In 2000, the Tropicana closed. Subsequently, a number of unsuccessful attempts were made to redevelop or re-open the facility. In 2003,

North Somerset Council North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including C ...

granted planning permission for a new pool to be developed by Mace Estates; however in 2004 Mace withdrew. In 2005, Henry Boot PLC was chosen as the developer, but the recession of 2008 onwards caused them to pull out. In early 2011, developer Richard Nightingale withdrew following a dispute with the council over his plans for the site. In August 2011, the council announced it was giving developers one last chance to rebuild the old complex which by then had been shut for 11 years. But it was announced in November 2011 that a working group had made a recommendation to the council to demolish the Tropicana. In August 2012, it was announced that the council had been given approval by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to demolish the pool on the sea front and for the land to be cleared and returned to beach with a new sea wall. In February 2013, the council granted

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

to a consortium of local businesses, Trop Ltd, who intended to build a new swimming pool complex on the site. As the land owner, however, the council has not yet given Trop Ltd permission to build on the site. During 2015, as part of the works to make the building safe (and clean the facade) The Bay Cafe opened in the front section of the old building.

Dismaland

In August 2015 it was announced that Dismaland, an art installation, would be curated at the Tropicana by the artist

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...

. The "sinister twist on Disneyland" opened during the weekend of 21 August 2015 and ran until 27 September 2015, attracting 150,000 visitors from all over the world and generating an estimated £20m in extra revenue for the town.

Events

In November 2015 it was announced that the council would be spending a further £550,000 bringing the site into safe usage and in partnership with local arts development charity The Theatre Orchard, was opening "Tropicana Theatre" with seasonal events over December and January with a view to running regular events in the future. A consultation process was launched on 9 March 2016 with the engagement of local and regional artists, producers and residents, headed up by Wayne Hemingway. The renaissance of the Tropicana continues as it's transformed into a pop-up amusement park 'Funland' during the summer of 2016. Since 2016, the Tropicana has become available to hire out as an event venue - it hosts a diverse programme of entertainment including live music, theatre, comedy, funfairs and circus by the sea.

See Monster

From 23 September to 20 November 2022, the Tropicana hosted a public

art installation Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...

called See Monster as part of the nationwide

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

festival Unboxed: Creativity in the UK. The installation consisted of a decommissioned

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

offshore drilling platform featuring a garden, a waterfall, kinetic scales, artworks collecting

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

, a cloud-making machine and a curly slide. Its opening was preceded by three drone light shows. The installation was successful, with more than 500,000 people engaging with it overall through visitation, involvement in related programmes and attendance to the shows.

References

External links

Trop (WsM) Ltd
consortium which was granted

in February 2013 to build a new swimming pool complex at the Tropicana
Dismaland official siteTropicana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tropicana Buildings and structures in Weston-super-Mare Defunct lidos Defunct sports venues in Somerset Event venues in England