From floating casino to centre for imagination - regeneration ideas for Bognor Regis revealed

Last year organisations and interested parties were invited to present their proposals to all councillors and the results have finally been published.

Although some proposals have very different focuses, many of them involve redeveloping the Regis Centre and Hothamton Car Park sites.

The presentations are set to be discussed by Arun councillors on Wednesday (March 17) and what steps they want to take to advance regeneration activity in the town.

This is a short summary of each of the four page documents provided by each presentation:

Big Blake Project

• A centre for imagination, a multi-use cultural centre inspired by and to celebrate William Blake. This hub would include a theatre/performance and exhibition space, workshop and classrooms for school children or visitors and retail, catering facilities and restaurant

• Regeneration areas strategically linked through the Blake Trail.

For Bognor Regeneration (4BR)

• New building replacing the Regis Centre for community and cultural use, gallery and museum, retail and leisure space, hotel and restaurant

• Manufacturer’s showcase (an area for displaying products that are produced along the south coast)

• Closure of Esplanade

• Student accommodation on the Hothamton Car Park site.

Shooting Match Limited

• Performance activity space

• Indoor and outdoor pools

• Experience for children called ‘buttons and levers’

• ‘Climatorium’ attraction to demonstrate a glimpse of future reality and effects of climate change.

Plaza Cinemas Ltd

• Fully refurbish Regis Centre how it once was before it was partitioned such as reinstating the old Royal Hall, fully refurbish it and clad the outside

• The large existing hall would provide a space for temporary events, exhibitions, functions, conferences and weddings

• In the longer term demolishing the foyer, studio one, existing cafe space and seaside end of the restaurant and creating a new Sussex Royal Wintergardens consisting of a double-height glazed atrium

• Consider disposing of the Litttlehampton Civic Centre site and moving Arun District Council staff to Bognor Town Hall, Arcade and new offices on the old fire station site.

One Bognor

• New national centre for comedy and humour

• Restored pier theatre and new entertainment complex for the town

• Move nightclub and Pier arcade to Esplanade

• Seasonal battery powered tram

• Community hub at the town hall

• New health centre on Regis site

• Close East High Street to all traffic

• Pedestrianise west side of Waterloo Square

• One way system in and out of the town centre

• Lido at Marine Park Gardens.

Juice Architects/Citicentric

• Multi-use centre at Regis site, including Blake museum, community studios, restaurant/retail/residential/hotel and council offices

• Mixed use/ residential development at Hothamton Car Park site

• Rock pools and safe sandy beach with sea defences

• New reef and land pier attachment to create calm sailing water

• Possible floating casino

• Water sports centre and slipway

• Stop over boat marina

• Fisherman’s jetty.

Project Sunrise (formerly Sir Richard Hotham Project)

• Multi-use venue, hotel, restaurants, retail and parking at Hothamton Car Park

• Apartments, commercial space, new destination boardwalk, public realm for outdoor events and studios for Arun Arts at Regis Centre

• Restaurant at Esplanade with relocation of skate park next to pier.

Coffee Cup Limited

• 300 seater coffee house with ‘engaging and exciting outside plea area with a seaside or pirate theme based at skate park site next to Rock Gardens.

• Free to use public toilets.

Regent Re-Gen

• £20m to improve public spaces around the town including amphitheatre, bike stations, eco-shuttle service, pier improvements and street art

• £5m modernisation of Alexandra Theatre with scope for conferencing facilities

• Continuous central park from Hothamton Car Park site to pier

• 180 flats at London Road Car Park site

• 100 apartments at Regis Centre site, undercroft parking as well as commercial and leisure space

• 100 flats at Gloucester Road as well as leisure space and parking

• 280 flats at Hothamton Car Park site including commercial space

• Redevelopment of car park and existing flats at Rock Gardens to include 50 new apartments and commercial and leisure space

• New sheltered event space at Marine Park

• New library and day care centre at Sarajevo Road

• New gateway to Bognor Regis in High Street with conversion and redevelopment of Job Centre and BT building.

Bognor Re-Invigoration Group

• 250 flats with ground floor parking and retail at Hothamton site would be help facilitate development of the seafront site

• Regenerative creep along Queensway

• Redesign of Esplanade into a one-way system

• New promenade edge between Lennox Street and Clarence Road

• Seawater lido

• Multi-use leisure and retail building including cafes, bars, observational tower, restaurants, climbing wall and indoor soft play

• Outdoor amphitheatre space for events and performances, fountains, splash park, concession stands, showers for bathers and zip line.