New visitor centre could be a real asset for resort
Felixstowe Mayor and consort Jan and Jon Garfield with councillors Doreen Savage and Graham Newman enjoying fish and chips at the new Landguard visitor centre.
Some good news for a change in Felixstowe – with two milestones to mark this week.
After years of design work, consultation and preparation, contractors have at long last started on the renovation of the seafront gardens.
It’s just a week since they started and already swathes of garden have been ripped out, cut and chopped.
The £2.76million project is going to take a year and everyone who walks the prom will have a front row view of the transformation.
It is such a shame it has been allowed to start without the future of the Spa Pavilion decided. Knowing the rate councils work – the south seafront took 29 years – it could be boarded up and unused for some time to come.
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Meanwhile, at the viewing area at Landguard, the new visitor centre opens today.
I was among those privileged to enjoy a sneak preview of the building.
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It keeps getting called the temporary visitor centre because one day – probably not for a decade – when the Port of Felixstowe expands again, the whole of the viewing area will be rebuilt and a new permanent centre created.
But while it may be a portable building, the finish, flooring and furnishings inside are of top quality and when you step in it does not feel temporary at all.
There are the much-needed toilets, an exhibition area, and the restaurant, which inside and outside has superb views across the harbour.
Felixstowe’s Mr Restaurant Tim Yeo – who runs the Bencotto, Alex and Fludyer Arms – is running it and so you know the food and drink will be first-class.
I think it’s going to be a real goldmine.
It has the potential to be very busy indeed and a big asset for Felixstowe.
