I can see... the sea! Imax demolition reveals new views of Bournemouth pier

12:00pm Friday 8th March 2013 in News By Arron Hendy

The pier comes into view where the front half of the Imax stood The pier comes into view where the front half of the Imax stood

THE once imposing front section of the Imax is no more.

Around a third of the whole structure has now gone and the sea views from Bath Road continue to expand as the building disappears from view.

Council contractors are working front to back tearing down the controversial former 3-D cinema and are on time to have it flattened by the end of the month, before the new public performance space is prepared for use this summer.

Sarah May, Bournemouth Borough Council’s Project Manager, said: “The demolition phase of the project is progressing as planned, with the methodical deconstruction of the building continuing from the front elevation backwards.”

See all our Imax pictures and videos and relive the way it once was at bournemouthecho.co.uk/imax

Chris Seymour, project manager for contractors Interserve, said a protective mat is being hung next to the site fencing to protect the promenade.

“Due to the complexity and the proximity of the pier approach area a crane hoisted mat has been erected to protect the perimeter of the site during demolition to both north and south elevations,” he said.

“The specially designed mat is constructed from re-used conveyor belts mechanically fixed together to act as a physical barrier whilst demolition works are carried out.”

The building is disappearing from the view of hotel rooms around the Lower Gardens.

Christian Lohez, bar manager at the 1812 bar and restaurant said guests at the adjoining Royal Exeter Hotel on Exeter Road have been discussing the building.

He said: “Every day I walk past it coming over from Boscombe and I used to love that sea view coming down over the hill.

“We’ve had guests mentioning it and I think the majority of people are glad to see it’s going.

“They either say ‘thank god it’s going’ or ‘what a waste of money’.”

Comments(35)

jeebuscripes says...
12:10pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Great Britain has than more than 11,000 miles of coastline.

If you were stupid enough to stand behind this building and complain about the view you are thick beyond belief.

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username is already in use says...
12:18pm Fri 8 Mar 13

This story never fails to amaze me, we are talking about a 100 yard stretch of busy road. Now we have lost a decent waterfront pub and very handy childs play area.

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Baywolf says...
12:29pm Fri 8 Mar 13

No your missing the point of view it's the great grey wall that people see from the top of bath road which obscured the natural view of not only pier approach but right over to Sandbanks, the building was ugly and the owners did nothing to improve the rear facade which was an eyesore. It was higher than I visages by the council apparently consequently anyone coming down Bath Road was confronted by a grey slab.

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glennzilla says...
12:29pm Fri 8 Mar 13

jeebuscripes wrote:
Great Britain has than more than 11,000 miles of coastline.

If you were stupid enough to stand behind this building and complain about the view you are thick beyond belief.
Now that 'The View' is being slowly restored I'm expecting traffic chaos, caused by the 'Majority' too lazy to park up and enjoy the view for more than 4secs from miles of cliff tops east and west of Peir Approach.

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Far Corfe says...
12:29pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Wow, what a revelation. If you were to take fifty paces right or left a few months ago you could have seen the sea then as well. Alternatively take a stroll along the prom for uninterrupted views of the sea.

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your having a laugh111 says...
12:33pm Fri 8 Mar 13

I agree with some of the comments, we now have no pub to sit in along the beach unless we go to boscvegas and sit in the harvester, not my faviourite pub.

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username is already in use says...
1:27pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Aruba will do well selling its £4.50 pints of p!ss

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l'anglais says...
1:56pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Far Corfe wrote:
Wow, what a revelation. If you were to take fifty paces right or left a few months ago you could have seen the sea then as well. Alternatively take a stroll along the prom for uninterrupted views of the sea.
Better still take a long walk off of a short pier.

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Routers says...
2:27pm Fri 8 Mar 13

The Metro Palace Court will be able to offer more sea view rooms again

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Hessenford says...
2:41pm Fri 8 Mar 13

That's the best the Imax has looked since it was built.

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awsokend says...
2:52pm Fri 8 Mar 13

I can see the puffins nesting on Old Harry Rocks in the distance.
a wonderful sight

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disfan says...
3:29pm Fri 8 Mar 13

please can someone (perhaps an Echo Reporter with a camera) tell me exactly where these views from Bath Road actually are ?????
From the top of the hill all you can see is the Royal Bath. As you come down the hill all you can see is the trees to the right and the Royal Bath on the left.

The first view of Imax that you actually get is from the roundabout at the end of Westover Rd and then its a tiny corner of the bottom left of the building! the first full view that will be restored wont be visible untill you pass the end of the Royal Bath Slip Rd by which time the road has lost the altitude to be able to see above the lovely pierhead building!
so the only views that will be restored are from the car park entrance to the end of Imax!

and my taxes are paying how much for this ??????

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Glashen says...
3:38pm Fri 8 Mar 13

disfan wrote:
please can someone (perhaps an Echo Reporter with a camera) tell me exactly where these views from Bath Road actually are ?????
From the top of the hill all you can see is the Royal Bath. As you come down the hill all you can see is the trees to the right and the Royal Bath on the left.

The first view of Imax that you actually get is from the roundabout at the end of Westover Rd and then its a tiny corner of the bottom left of the building! the first full view that will be restored wont be visible untill you pass the end of the Royal Bath Slip Rd by which time the road has lost the altitude to be able to see above the lovely pierhead building!
so the only views that will be restored are from the car park entrance to the end of Imax!

and my taxes are paying how much for this ??????
According to the council your taxes are paying nothing for this. The bulk of the money came from the previous sale of Terrace road car park, so basically swapping one open space for another.

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chrisii1991 says...
3:51pm Fri 8 Mar 13

The people moaning about it blocking the seafront are the ones too lazy to walk on the beach! The view has always been there people!! This building was nice and would have either made a good indoor activity venue for the wet summers or a hotel. What a stunning view guests would have had!. This outdoor venue WILL NOT work if we have a typical British summer.An utter waste shame on you Bournemouth council and all the moaners and whingers!!! You will all be moaning if we do get nice weather and there's loud music all day and night.

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wonderway says...
4:01pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Sarah May, Bournemouth Borough Council’s Project Manager, said: “The demolition phase of the project is progressing as planned, with the methodical deconstruction of the building continuing from the front elevation backwards.”

this is same person who swore blind that the surf reef would work and tax payers money was safe as contracts protected the council from any loss when she was in charge with Tony Williams of surf reef project. Both of them were promoted for that great council project ....................
........ now to will they be in charge? of new dive reef(few empty bags left over from surf reef) that has no water on it few times a day. Seams normal practice at council waste tax payers money get more pay

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Lord Spring says...
4:17pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Will be great when it is gone will then be able to view all the cars in Bath Road Car Park form Pier Approach a bargin at £10000000

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Arjay says...
4:24pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Hessenford wrote:
That's the best the Imax has looked since it was built.
Tomorrow it will look even better... and next week.....

The loss and re-emergence of legendary 'view' will always be the subject of hot debate... such is the nature of human beings.

It is however very difficult to argue against the fact that the IMAX is (was!) one of the ugliest buildings ever constructed, outside the confines of an industrial estate.

The fact that this seriously ugly lump happened to be sited on one of the prime UK coastal sites was one of the biggest **** ups in the architectural history of this country.

Certainly the biggest in this town...

It's been a long time. Thank goodness it's nearly over....

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sc61 says...
4:43pm Fri 8 Mar 13

username is already in use wrote:
This story never fails to amaze me, we are talking about a 100 yard stretch of busy road. Now we have lost a decent waterfront pub and very handy childs play area.
..not to mention 10 million quid

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Gastines3 says...
5:34pm Fri 8 Mar 13

From start to finish a very sad tale for local Council Tax payers. I don't think we will ever know the true cost of consultants fees,purchase cost including legal fees,loss of rental income/business rates.Buying out remaining leaseholders etc.etc. etc. Now watching about the most destructive demolition I have ever seen.That might be the point to some but there appears to be tens of thousands of pounds of reusable/saleable materials just smashed up. The contract,didn't notice any adverts for competetive quotes anywhere, must be so lucrative that the recycling of building materials is not required? Everything that goes on in this town involving public money seems to smell very strongly. Don't forget as one former P.M. liked saying"Lessons will be learnt" and the latest one likes to remind us that" We are all in this together".Could someone mention it to the controllers of the public purse at the Town Hall please!!!

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Hessenford says...
5:40pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Gastines3 wrote:
From start to finish a very sad tale for local Council Tax payers. I don't think we will ever know the true cost of consultants fees,purchase cost including legal fees,loss of rental income/business rates.Buying out remaining leaseholders etc.etc. etc. Now watching about the most destructive demolition I have ever seen.That might be the point to some but there appears to be tens of thousands of pounds of reusable/saleable materials just smashed up. The contract,didn't notice any adverts for competetive quotes anywhere, must be so lucrative that the recycling of building materials is not required? Everything that goes on in this town involving public money seems to smell very strongly. Don't forget as one former P.M. liked saying"Lessons will be learnt" and the latest one likes to remind us that" We are all in this together".Could someone mention it to the controllers of the public purse at the Town Hall please!!!
I think it was stated a few days ago that any materials which could be recycled would be so hopefully a little money to comes back.

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Bournefre says...
5:46pm Fri 8 Mar 13

your having a laugh111 wrote:
I agree with some of the comments, we now have no pub to sit in along the beach unless we go to boscvegas and sit in the harvester, not my faviourite pub.
You could go and sit in any pub.
... Unless (as I suspect) you mean you want to sit OUTside a pub and enjoy the view, rather than sitting in a big warehouse on the seafront, either missing the sunshine outside or having to battle against gales and driving rain to get there.

I would have liked to have seen terraces of cafes and bars up to the car park, but in the artist's impression above there only appears to be a wall, which is slightly disappointing.

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Herbert Austin says...
5:58pm Fri 8 Mar 13

May I suggest that if you wanted a hotel room with a sea view that you get a hotel nearer the sea, or preferably In it.

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The Timelord says...
6:19pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Haven't the council and demolition team missed a trick here and a bit of showmanship into the bargain?

If the demolition had been executed from the cliff path back towards the road the side elevation afronting the road could've been left right up to the last minute and been pulled down in one last finale thus restoring the view in one go.

Another opportunity missed....

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MikeGB says...
7:00pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Good riddance to this damned eyesore. Sadly many more will remain, as will the people who moan about every single positive thing that ever happens in Bournemouth.

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Hobad1 says...
7:21pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Well, the video is cr@p. The ad before was more interesting.

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Monkus&Noggin says...
7:53pm Fri 8 Mar 13

We have just been down to see the "magnificent view" and there is nothing there!!! It's all dark, 12 million pounds of wasted tax payer's cash and the first thing apparently the council have ever done right (you asked for it. we did it) and the bloody thing's not lit up. Think the echo camera man must have stood on top of the pavillion building to take the superb pictures of a "sea view".

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windy52 says...
9:53pm Fri 8 Mar 13

I see that Jack the Giant Slayer is being released shortly. Can someone tell me where the nearest IMAX cinema is?
Thank You...

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billm says...
11:09pm Fri 8 Mar 13

London (according to Wikipedia).

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spooki says...
8:43am Sat 9 Mar 13

The view was there before, you just couldn't see it because some idiot put a ruddy great building in front of it.

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Avengerboy says...
3:17pm Sat 9 Mar 13

Millions wasted and nobody brought to book, just a £2,000 council tax bill for me, yay!

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Avengerboy says...
3:20pm Sat 9 Mar 13

Next get rid of the pier, Royal Bath hotel, Russell Coates, the Court Royal hotel, the bic, the aquarium ......

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Gastines3 says...
5:43pm Sat 9 Mar 13

Interesting to see the Court Royal mentioned. I believe that was the fly in the ointment,or of the complete development of the site, when we just ended up with the B.I.C. The Miners Union plus the Labour Party would not allow the building to be sold and included in the project. Hence the usual bit of a job instead of a decent one.With reference tonthe Royal Bath, I am amazed that such a low level building has remained on such a prime site.Listed or not,developers usually find a way around things especially now it can be shown as such a loss making property.

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portia6 says...
6:04pm Sat 9 Mar 13

You win some, you lose some, now just
leave the sea front as it is, enjoy the
view! Now why don't they build the Imax
in front of Rockley Park?

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EGHH says...
8:13am Sun 10 Mar 13

Should never have been built in the first place!

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portia6 says...
6:42pm Sun 10 Mar 13

Music festivals are now booking the
space with rent-a-tent!

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