Summerland
From ManxWiki
Summerland was an entertainment complex on King Edward Road in Douglas which opened in 1971, Closed in 2004 and was partly demolished in 2005.
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Background
Summerland was opened on the 25th of May 1971. A climate-controlled building covering 3.5 acres (14,000 m²) on the former Derby Castle site, which cost around £2 million to construct. It was designed to accommodate up to 10,000 tourists and offered a dance area, five floors of holiday games, restaurants, an indoor fairground, public Bars, restaurants and various other entertainment activities. Described as Brutalist architecture of 1970s concrete design, It had an advanced controlled internal climate, and was built with novel construction techniques using new plastic materials. The Piazza level structure was clad in a frosted acrylic sheeting called Oroglas. The complex was built to rival the ever rising popularity of foreign holidays.
The Fire
The fire started around 19:40 on 2nd of August 1973 in a small kiosk adjacent to the centre's Miniature golf course. The fire started as a result of children smoking illicitly in this kiosk. Eventually the burning kiosk slumped against the exterior of the building. The acrylic sheeting proved highly flammable and the fire spread quickly across the sheeting of the leisure centre's walls and roof, and through vents which were not properly fire proofed. The acrylic melted, which allowed more oxygen to enter and dropped burning melted material, both starting other fires and injuring those trying to escape. The interior sound-proofing material was also particularly flammable and the building's design included many unblocked internal spaces that acted as chimneys adding to the conflagration.
Delay & Disorganisation
The fire services were not called for almost twenty minutes, and even then the call did not originate from the centre. Instead emergency calls came via a passing taxi who radioed his base after driving past the burning building, another was from a ship anchored in douglas bay who radioed the harbourmaster who in-turn called the fire brigade.
There was no attempt to evacuate the 3,000 people present until the visible evidence of the flames prompted a mass rush for the exits. Some of these exits had been either locked or chained shut to stop people accessing the building without paying, people were faced with smashing-in the doors or finding another way out.
The first responding fire crews immediately realised additional resources would be required and every last resource in the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service was mobilised to the incident.
As the fire alarm did not sound, many people on the lower floors were unaware of what was unfolding above them, many of these people were reluctant to leave and were dragged out, by the scruff of their necks it has been quoted!.
Aftermath
51 people died in the fire and even to this day remains the second worst loss of life from fire on land since the second world war and one of the most rapidly spreading fires ever to occur in a public building.
The number of fatalities was worsened by the failure of power supplies and emergency generators, inadequate ventilation, the lack of a sprinkler system and locked fire doors. The death-toll brought about a public inquiry which ran from September 1973 to February 1974. No specific individuals or groups were blamed and the deaths were attributed to misadventure: the delay in evacuation and the flammable building materials were condemned.Changes to building regulations to improve fire safety were introduced. The centre was seriously damaged by the fire. The Piazza level steelwork was demolished, rebuilt on a smaller scale, and re-opened in 1978. The design of the rest of the virtually untouched sections below the Piazza level were re-designed with more of a focus on Sport facilties with squash courts and two multi-use pitches built on the indoor fairground area.
Closure
It finally closed in 2004 and final demolition started in October 2005. The east Aquadrome wall currently remains intact as there is a dispute from the residents of Strathallan Road (with houses directly behind the site) that its removal might cause the cliff to collapse.
Further Reading
- Academic Research into Summerland Fire by Dr Ian Phillips, University of Birmingham (also includes information about the failed attempt to redevelop the site folloing it's final closure).
- £30m family complex unveiled for Summerland site IOM Today - 18 March 2009
External Links
- Isle of Man Fire Brigade website
- BBC On this day Memorial
- BBC On this day Witness
- Summerland Nostalgia Website Various pictures of Summerland over the years
