its gone!!!

its been announced that southport pleasure land has closed its doors forever. announced yesterday to its staff that as of today the park is closed and wont be re-opening.

so,mome of the attractions are roumered to be moving to the pleasure beach such as the tramertiser, chaos and the pirate ship.

its so sad to see a park shut down like this and seeing as this park was a majour part of southport and that it also had some of the oldest woodies in the country.


Amusement Today Story -

Pleasureland in Southport, England, closed at 5pm on Sept. 6 with the loss of 52 jobs. Stunned staff were told just minutes before the park was locked up for a final time.

Owned by the Thompson of Blackpool Pleasure Beach fame since 1977, Southport??????s Pleasureland origianlly opened in 1913 and has been a staple of summertime fun for generations.

The decision to close Southport??????s Pleasureland comes one month after staff at the Pleasure Beach were told jobs could go in Blackpool in an effort to save money.

Rumours continued to persist that Southport??????s top ride ?????? the Traumatizer (a Vekoma suspended looping coaster) ?????? was on its way to Blackpool to replace the much-loved Log Flume (Arrow), which recently closed for good.

??????It??????s a very sad day for the [Thompson] family," said Gill Mathison, spokeswoman for Blackpool Pleasure Beach. ??????We??????re trying to preserve the Pleasure Beach by making it leaner, meaner and keener and more efficient. We need to ensure we have a product that people want. After the next two months we will be a really slick operation that is set up to cope with the economic climate and move forward into the next chapter.

??????With regards to the Traumatizer, it??????s not a question I can answer at this moment. The priority is to help our staff at Pleasureland.??????

Pleasureland experienced a 76 per cent decline in visitor numbers since introducing entry fees. The seafront park saw numbers drop from 2.1 million in 2004 to 500,000 last year after it implemented a ?????2 admission charge.

A spokeswoman for the Pleasureland fun park today said in local newspapers: ??????Pleasureland has proved unsustainable as a ride park, despite repeated significant investments in capital attractions.

??????These include the Traumatizer, the Space Shot vertical drop ride, and the Casablanca Family Entertainment Center, none of which, sadly, has generated a return on capital.

??????The UK theme park industry is facing increased competition from publicly-funded and Lottery-funded attractions. This has been compounded by our weekend trading now competing with extended Sunday shopping and Sunday sporting events.??????

A statement issued to Pleasureland workers thanked ??????loyal?????? staff for their service and pledged to work with other agencies to help them find new jobs.

[hyyyper]

they should it down overnight? and just told the staff to never come back, harsh

Im shocked!
from their website:
''Please Note: The Fun House will remain trading.

It is with regret that the Directors of Pleasureland Ltd announce the closure of their Pleasureland Amusement Park. We are extremely saddened to have to make this announcement, especially as our hard-working and loyal team here has helped us so much in our endeavours over the years.

Pleasureland has proved unsustainable as a ride park, despite our repeated significant investments in capital attractions. These include the ?????????5million TRAUMAtizer roller coaster, the Space Shot vertical drop ride, and the Casablanca Family Entertainment Centre, none of which sadly has generated a return on capital.

It must be acknowledged that the UK theme park industry as a whole is facing increased competition from publicly-funded and lottery-funded attractions which have significantly distorted the visitor attractions market. This situation has been compounded by our weekend trading now competing with extended Sunday shopping rules and Sunday sporting events.

We recognise that Pleasureland has long been an integral part of the resort and we will be working closely with Sefton Council to discuss a practicable future for the site. Our immediate efforts will now be with our staff; our Human Resources team will be working together with external agencies to help and advise them as much as we possibly can, at what is a difficult time for all of us involved.

6th Sep 2006''

Luckily they'r gonna keep the funhouse going at least, there aren't many to be found in the world.
But this kind of thing really annoys me because these seaside parks are charming and unique places with classic and antique rides that have been preserved for many years. First frontierland now southport. And we as a country voted for this with our feet![V]

Will it be abandonned? Would be a nice place to do some grinds on the coasters.

i dought it will be abandond as they are working with the council to do something, personally i think it will be brought by somone like gulervers and turned into a kiddie park. thats the 2nd park in that area. first it was camalot theme park last year now this

[coolbeans326]

its to bad they didn't put in a good wooden roller coaster instead of that. They're cheaper, and more fun. If that didn't draw anybody in, then you know the park sucks.

the biggest problem with the park was that it had no room to expand. and also a woodie wold not of been sensable as they already had 2 woodies.

Originally posted by hyyyper

they should it down overnight? and just told the staff to never come back, harsh

No the staff were informed about 3 weeks in advance. I saw a copy of the letter all the staff were sent. I think that article is to make it seem even more dramatic.

This is sad to see[:(]

PLEASE tell me the wheel will be located somewhere and not scrapped...not that it couldnt be duplicated but NOOO!!1

EDIT - so the wheel and the funhouse will still exist? I think thats what I read up there...