C O N T E X T 1 3 0 : J U LY 2 0 1 3 23 side heritage seaside ritage Our seaside her Our seaside heritag seaside heritage Our itage Our seaside her seaside heritage Our seaside he In common with other seaside resorts, Penarth has suffered the vagaries of cultural taste and erratic economic times over the decades. In the 1960s the number of visitors to Penarth began to decline rapidly, due to the rise in private car ownership and the advent of cheap package holidays abroad. In 1974 theVale of Glamorgan Council assumed ownership of Penarth Pier following local government reorganisation, abolished the tolls and funded the facility from council rates. By the 1970s the seafront at Penarth was in serious decline. An unsympathetic block of flats had been constructed on the site of two former Victorian villas. The prominently located 19th century Esplanade Hotel suffered fire damage and was left as a burnt-out shell until the site was redeveloped as an eight-storey block of flats in the 1980s.The draft Penarth Conservation Area Appraisal, 1994, commented that the Esplanade was a key area of Penarth which included some of ‘the conservation area’s best and worst buildings’2.Three listed buildings were noted: the pier, Penarth Baths (now apartments) and PenarthYacht Club. An important frontage noted and locally listed was Beachcliff, an Edwardian terrace built in 1904 to accommodate private hotels, cafés and shops, and characterised by turrets but ‘weakened by unsympathetic modern shop front elevations at ground level’3. Penarth Pier is one of only 54 pleasure piers in the United Kingdom which survive from the 90 that were constructed in the 19th and 20th centuries. Since 1986 the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society has operated summertime cruises from the pier. Promenading and fishing continue to be popular pastimes on deck.However, the pavilion has remained closed to the public for over a decade. The council recognised the negative impact of the deteriorating pavilion on the seafront. In 1990 a programme of remedial repairs, assisted by Heritage Lottery Funding, was undertaken, which also improved the appearance of the pavilion.The only use made of the pavilion was by a local gymnastics club, which paid a peppercorn rent until 2011.The club installed commercial fan heaters to raise the ambient temperature during sessions, which exacerbated the inherent problems of the building through lack of insulation and poor ventilation. The apparatus was covered between sessions to protect it from falling droplets of interstitial condensation and particles of paint and material. The Penarth Pavilion Project was launched in 2007 under the auspices of the Penarth Arts and Crafts, a local arts charity. A grant of £50,000 was secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund to work on initial proposals. In 2009 Penarth Arts and Crafts secured a further grant of £99,600 to develop a restoration plan for the pier. In 2011 a second-round HLF grant of £1.68 million was announced, enabling plans for the project to be developed to tender stage. The total cost of the project will be £4 million, with HLF backing being match-funded by the BIG Lottery Fund, the Welsh Government (Cadw), the council, Coastal Communities Fund (£199,000 for the cost of marketing operations for two years), and philanthropic donations from the John Paul Getty Foundation, the Foyle Foundation and the Headley Trust (£15,000 for a new mosaic foyer floor). Listed building consent was granted for pragmatic enabling work, which began in February 2012.The poor thermal performance of the building is being tackled by applying insulated drylining to walls and ceilings. Castiron fenestration is being replaced with double-glazed, steel-section windows.The water-damaged 1950s maple dance floor has been uplifted, to be replaced with a solid oak Junckers floor.A computerised building management system will be installed to monitor the new heating system.The original paint finish protection to the roof areas has been replaced by silver zinc shingles. The council has granted the project a full repairing lease for 125 years. The grand opening is due in December. The project will offer many educational opportunities to the SouthWales community. Revenue to cover running costs must be raised through attracting visitors to the cafe and restaurant, the 70-seater cinema, and art and craft exhibitions, and from fundraising initiatives and donations. The investment which is being made in the regeneration of Penarth Pavilion celebrates the legacy left by the Victorian and Edwardian entrepreneurs whose foresight, planning and speculative developments created an elegant residential town and fashionable seaside resort. Town gate, Alexandra Park, Penarth Far left:The development at Beachcliff,The Esplanade, Penarth in early 2013 References: 1 Phillips, N, and Hendrie, S, (2008) Penarth Pier Pavilion: a conservation statement, Penarth Arts and Crafts 2 Evans, JM (1996) Penarth Conservation Area Appraisal ibid Tina Lloyd is researching the effectiveness of listing modest vernacular architecture in private ownership at the University of Bath.
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