Spanish City is a permanent entertainment venue in Whitley Bay, a seaside town on North Tyneside, Tyne & amp; Wear, England. Established as a smaller version of Pleasure Beach Blackpool, opened in 1910 as a concert hall, restaurant, roof garden and tea room. A ballroom was added in 1920, and then the night market.
Located near the seafront, the Spanish City has a 180-foot (54.8 m) Renaissance-style frontal and becomes famous for its distinctive dome, now a registered class II building. There are minarets on either side of the entrance, each carrying a half-life female bacchanalian figure in the lead, one holding a cymbal, another a tambourine. The architect of the building was Robert Burns Dick, Charles T. Marshall, and James Cackett.
The band Dire Straits captured the Spanish City in their 1980 hit single, "Tunnel of Love", which has since been played every morning when the park opened. By the late 1990s the building had been damaged, and by the early 2000s it had been closed to the public. A regeneration project was announced in 2011.
Video Spanish City
Architecture
The Spanish city overlooks the sea, with 180Ã, ft-long front and a depth of 275Ã, ft. The dome rises to 75 ° F on the foundation and has a diameter of 50 ° F, supported on a 46-ft-high concrete column. Made of reinforced concrete shells, five inches thick, supported by 12 internal ribs (10 inches x 18 inches).
The architect is Robert Burns Dick, Charles T. Marshall, and James Cackett) from Cackett and Burns Dick. J. Coulson is a design consultant and L. G. Mouchel is a structural consultant. Davidson and Miller are contractors.
Maps Spanish City
History
Charles Elderton of Hebburn Theater Royal originally founded an entertainment arena and dance hall at the site. The Toreadors Concert Party has entertained visitors with an open-air theater in Whitley Park every summer since 1907, with awnings decorated in Spanish style. To provide permanent equipment, he founded Whitley Amusements Ltd. In 1909, Whitley Pleasure Gardens Company Ltd. formed and established a large exhibition arena. Dome was founded in 1910.
The building was officially opened by Robert Mason, chairman of the local council, on the evening of Saturday, May 7, 1910, as the City of Spain and the Pleasure Park of Whitley Bay. Union Jack was flown half-mast because King Edward VII had died the previous day. There are in-house shops and cafes, a rooftop garden, and an Empress Theater, with seating for 1,400 on the floor and 400 on the balcony. The Empress Ballroom was added in 1920, and Rotunda in 1921. In 1979, Rotunda was transformed into a Starlight Room for live entertainment.
The night market is very popular, with rides and entertainment in the outdoors, including roller coasters "corkscrew" - which was at Flamingoland in Yorkshire from 1983 to 2011, then at Luna Park in France - a ghost train and waltzers, the House that Jack Built, and Fun House. The Dome also has an arcade of entertainment and then the Laser Quest Laser Tag arena. It was used as a classroom for Whitley Bay High School students during a nanny strike in the 1980s, and later became a live music venue, hosting several bands, including Ash in 2001.
On Sunday, July 27, 2014, Newcastle-based Chris Cross became the last man to appear in the original dome of the Spanish City, before the developers entered the building on July 28, 2014. Cross performed a magic act with the support of Doctor Diablo. There was a fire show outside on the piazza by a local player, Charlie Burns.
Dire Straits songwriter Mark Knopfler and musician Sting have been talking about their memories of the Spanish City. Knopfler, who was born in Glasgow but raised in Blyth, Northumberland, a few miles from the Spanish City, said it was the first place he had ever heard very loudly. Sting, who was born near Newcastle, spent his evenings and nights in the City of Spain when he was supposed to be studying for his A-level.
Regeneration
In June 2011, ADP Architects won a commission to regenerate the Spanish City with plans that included four-star boutique hotels, four-star hotels, 20 apartments, 1950s restaurants, and pleasure parks. The completion date was announced in 2014, but the work was terminated in 2013 due to lack of funds. The project received a grant of £ 3.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund in November 2013. The developers stated their intention to reopen the City of Spain in the summer of 2018.
In popular culture
Dire Straits refers to the Spanish City in their 1980 song "Tunnel of Love", which became the unofficial theme song of the field, played every morning when it opened. The town of Cullercoats in this song stops on the train along the coast from Whitley Bay. This song refers to other permanent funfairs: Steeplechase Park on Coney Island, New York, open from 1897 to 1964; Palisades Amusement Park in Bergen County, New Jersey, open from 1898 to 1971; and Playland Rockaways in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York, open from 1902 to 1982.
Other pop culture references include Spanish City (2002), a novel by Sarah May, set up in the town of Setton, a fictitious northeastern city, which has an amusement park called the City of Spain. The city of Spain also featured a video accompanying the song Tina Cousins ​​â € <â € <"Pray" (1998). It made a brief appearance in The Likely Lads (1976), and featured in The Cullercoats Fishlass (2013) by local film company ACT 2 CAM, where Charles Elderton attempted to persuading Spanish City owners to let his rombers perform there, despite Sunday's licensing law.
Note
Further reading
- Wardle, Frank Wilson. "Spanish Town in Whitley bay 1967", YouTube .
- spanishcity.co.uk
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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