Mechanical Memories Magazine

Dreamland
MARGATE
Save Dreamland Update December 2011
There is lots happening at Dreamland at the moment. Of most interest, following the
report in the previous MMM of the visit by representatives of the Heritage Lottery to
Dreamland in November, I am very pleased to announce that the Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF) confirmed a grant of £3 million towards the Dreamland Margate project.
The HLF grant is match funding to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Sea
Change grant of £3 .7m and Thanet District Council's contribution of £3m. The money
will be used by the Dreamland Trust to restore Dreamland Margate and create the
world's first amusement park of historic rides with classic side shows, cafes,
restaurants, special events, festivals and gardens and a celebration of our British
seaside and popular culture with youth culture heritage at its heart.
We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded our project such a
large grant. This puts in place all the funding we now need to enable us to reopen
Dreamland Margate and at the same time secure the future of its three remarkable
listed structures, the Scenic Railway roller coaster, Dreamland Cinema and 'Lord'
George Sanger's Menagerie cages. These will form the centrepieces of the world's
first amusement park of thrilling historic rides. The HLF funding will be released once
the Compulsory Purchase Order on the site has been confirmed.
The revival of Dreamland is a major component of Margate's and Thanet's
overall regeneration, providing a substantial visitor attraction which will generate at
least 350,000 annual visits, with valuable learning, training and employment
opportunities for the local community. The park will also have provision for a
dedicated learning centre, exhibition space, community room, performance area,
screenings, special events, festival s, and a sensory garden and allotment created by
volunteers.
The works to the Park and Cinema Building have been divided into 5 initial
stages, with the first stages consolidating the rides and attractions to the northern
portion of the site. Stage I of the first phase of the project involves re-establishing
Dreamland as an amusement park, including the restoration of the Grade II* listed
Scenic Railway to full working condition and the construction of a new modernist
style Scenic Railway station to replace the original one destroyed by an arson attack in
2008. Other works include the restoration of the Grade II listed menagerie cages,
repairs to the Grade II* listed Dreamland Cinema and creating strong entry points
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