![Tower Park, Poole, Dorset, UK (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Tower_Park%2C_Poole%2C_Dorset%2C_UK_%281%29.jpg)
Tower Park is a leisure and retail park, located at Mannings Heath,
in
Poole
Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, England. It was one of the first complexes of its kind in Europe when it opened in 1989.
History
The leisure park, which opened in 1989, was a
development initiated by local Dorset businessman Bill Riddle, who operated a
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
site in the area.
[ The site chosen for the park was at Mannings Heath,][ on 53 acres of ]heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
just outside Poole.[ Riddle funded the project by selling some land at Mannings Heath to ]Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
and much of the park was leased to Allied Leisure PLC.[
Tower Park was initially very successful as the quality of its attractions and free parking proved popular. The original attractions included a 10-screen UCI cinema, ]Megabowl
Tenpin Ltd (stylized "tenpin"), is one of the largest tenpin bowling brands in the United Kingdom, consisting of 48 bowling centres ranging from 12 to 36 lanes (depending on the width of the centre), which often have on-site restaurants and bar ...
(a 30-lane bowling alley), ''Ice Trax'' skating rink, Splashdown Waterpark
SplashDown Waterpark, a waterpark located within Ben Lomond Regional Park in Sudley, Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between th ...
and an 1,850-capacity nightclub called ''The Venue'', which became one of the leading ‘superclub
A superclub is a very large or superior nightclub, often with several rooms with different themes. The term was first coined in Mixmag, the British electronic dance and clubbing magazine, in 1995, referring to the new wave of clubs such as Mi ...
s’ in the country.[
However, within three years of opening, the park went into ]Administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
as a consequence of the early 1990s recession
The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incu ...
.[ Although the complex as a whole was rescued by its sale to Tower Park Properties, neither the ''Ice Trax'' skating rink nor ''The Venue'' nightclub proved to be commercially viable in the longer term. ''Ice Trax'' closed in the mid-1990s and ''The Venue'' in 1999. The latter did briefly re-open in 2002, but the re-launch did not last.][
A ]Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
supermarket store was also built at Tower Park. In 2002 it was discovered that a petrol leak from the store’s filling station
A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel.
Gasoli ...
had been polluting local groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
for six months. The company was fined by the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
, although Tesco claimed it had been treated unfairly.
In 2003, Tower Park was sold to X-Leisure, a company headed by PY Gerbeau
Pierre-Yves Gerbeau (born 16 October 1965, often shortened to P.Y. Gerbeau)[P ...](_blank)
, which added it to its Xscape brand. The following year X-Leisure invested £5m in refurbishing and expanding the facilities in the park, including adding additional restaurant units. These included Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...
, Nando’s and KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
.[ The existing buildings were also given new cladding and an open plaza created between Splashdown and the cinema, allowing the new restaurants to have outside seating.][ A newly rebuilt ]Burger King
Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...
restaurant was opened in 2005, the original restaurant having been destroyed by a disgruntled Burger King employee in an arson attack 18 months earlier.
The cinema was sold to Empire Cinemas
Empire Cinemas Limited is a multiplex cinema chain in the UK. There are 14 Empire Cinemas across the country, with 131 screens in total.
Ownership and management
The ultimate beneficial owner of Empire Cinemas Ltd is Irish entrepreneur Thomas ...
in 2004 along with five other UCI theatres in other parts of the UK. Empire added an additional six screens and 500 seats in 2011, making the cinema one of the biggest multiplexes
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
in the south of the country. In 2016, it was sold to Cineworld
Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...
together with four other Empire cinemas.[ ]Gala Bingo
Gala Bingo is an online bingo and casino offering under the ownership of Entain.
Gala Bingo was created in 1991 as a division of Bass plc. It later became an independent company, and then became the Gala Coral Group after acquiring Coral Euro ...
, which had taken over ''Ice Trax'' premises in the mid-90s, was re-branded as Buzz Bingo
Buzz Bingo is a chain of bingo clubs in Great Britain owned by Caledonia Investments. It has 92 locations. Formerly operating as Gala Bingo clubs, they were re-branded as Buzz Bingo clubs in September 2018, whilst the Gala brand continues to r ...
in 2018. In 2014, a chemical spill at the Splashdown Waterpark resulted in hundreds of people being evacuated from the attraction.
In 2013, X-Leisure was taken over by the UK’s largest property development and investment Group, Landsec
Land Securities Group plc is the largest commercial property development and investment company in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust (REIT) when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It ...
. Tower Park continues to be listed by Landsec as one of its leisure properties on its website.
Attractions and amenities
The buildings at Tower Park occupy an area of 199,000 sq. ft., according to its ultimate owner Landsec.[ There is an open plaza between the buildings providing outdoor seating.][ There is also a ground level free car park with disabled spaces.][
The attractions include a ]Cineworld
Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...
16-screen multiplex
Multiplex may refer to:
* Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make
* Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain
* Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company
* Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measur ...
cinema, a Splashdown Waterpark with 13 outdoor and indoor flume rides, Buzz Bingo
Buzz Bingo is a chain of bingo clubs in Great Britain owned by Caledonia Investments. It has 92 locations. Formerly operating as Gala Bingo clubs, they were re-branded as Buzz Bingo clubs in September 2018, whilst the Gala brand continues to r ...
, Lemur Landings children’s softplay, Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018.
The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...
bowling alley, and a PureGym
PureGym Limited is a British chain of no frills health clubs based in the United Kingdom with multiple gyms around the world. The chain is headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire, with additional offices in London and Southampton.
It is Brita ...
health club. In addition, food outlets and restaurants include, according to Tower Park’s website, Burger King
Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...
, KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
, Nando’s, Days Restaurant, Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...
, Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
and Pizza Express
PizzaExpress is a British multinational restaurant group, owned by a group of bondholders. It has over 470 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Philippines, the Unite ...
. A Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
superstore is also located at Tower Park.
References
External links
Tower Park Complex Website
{{Commons category-inline
Buildings and structures in Poole
Tourist attractions in Poole