Blackpool Tower to be taken over by council

Blackpool Tower is to be taken over by the local council's own tourism company.

The attraction, which has been managed by Merlin Entertainments for 15 years, is set to be handed over to the authority's in-house Blackpool Tourism Ltd company on 1 August.

Blackpool Council leader Lynn Williams said it was an "exciting" new chapter and a "new era" for Blackpool's tourism industry.

Merlin Entertainments said it "fully supported" the move.

Blackpool Tourism Ltd will also take over managing Madame Tussauds, alongside with the Sandcastle waterpark and the Showtown Museum.

Maddam Tussauds, and The Dungeons, will be operated under franchise from Merlin.

Williams said: "In 2010, Blackpool Council bought Blackpool Tower bringing it into public ownership for the first time to safeguard the future of our much loved iconic landmark whilst also transforming it into a tourist attraction fit for the 21st century.

She added that in 2010 "we did not have the skills or knowledge within the town to redevelop the Tower into a modern attraction" and bringing Merlin Entertainments on board was "absolutely the right decision".

Andy Turner, Merlin's regional director of Gateway Attractions, said: "We fully support the local authority's desire to see these attractions return to local management."

Blackpool Council said all existing ticket purchases will be honoured.

The Blackpool Tower Company was founded by London-based Standard Contract & Debenture Corporation in 1890, when it bought an aquarium on Central Promenade with the intention of building a replica Eiffel Tower.

Costing nearly £300,000 the 518 ft (158m) the tower opened on 14 May 1894.

Its complex includes a circus whose ring is flooded for its finale, and the 120 ft (37m) by 10 ft (31m) ballroom with a sprung floor made of 30,600 separate planks of oak, mahogany and walnut.

The dancefloor, and the ballroom's famous 1935-built organ, feature prominently in the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing.

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