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The money has been awarded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, within the highly competitive Cultural Development Fund fourth round delivered by Arts Council England.
Our vision is to enhance the building’s existing facilities, boost capacity and restore its status as a nationally renowned, multi-use entertainment space.
This funding – part of a UK government pot totalling £16.2m – means we could carry out additional work within our project to transform the much-loved site.
Subject to planning approval, this new funding will be used to:
- improve and fit out interior spaces for culture and entertainment, increasing accessibility, and enabling greater flexibility for holding events and activities of a greater range of sizes
- install equipment such as for lighting and sound to help speed up a future venue operator’s delivery
- deliver a cultural programme in a partnership between the council, the venue operator and local cultural organisations boomsatsuma and Super Culture.
We’re currently working on the appointment of an experienced operator to run the venue for at least 20 years.
Decisions on exactly how this funding will be spent will be discussed and agreed once the venue operator has been appointed, which is due to be announced this summer.
Reinventing this landmark building will create new jobs, support local businesses and deliver a year-round experience-led economy for the future.
We want to attract higher profile acts, culture and entertainment events to elevate Weston’s place within the regional, national and international scene.
The building must close temporarily to allow construction and refurbishment to take place.
The venue closed earlier this month but the Bay Café and Makers Market at the front of the promenade building will remain open until after the Easter school holidays.
Tropicana planning application submitted
Proposals have been unveiled that - if approved - would transform the iconic Tropicana building on Weston-super-Mare’s seafront.
A planning application was submitted last Thursday on our behalf by Morgan Sindall Construction, our appointed pre-construction contractor for the project.
The planning application includes:
- repairing the main 1930s promenade building
- demolishing the existing 1980s internal building and replacing it with a brand-new structure to host indoor events for about 1,000 people
- increasing the total venue capacity to about 5,000 people
- installing sustainable and renewable energy sources, including heat pumps and solar panels, to improve energy efficiency and help tackle the climate emergency.
This application is a major milestone for this landmark building.
Over the last decade, a series of consultation and engagement exercises have taken place with residents and businesses on the vision for the town centre, including the future of the Tropicana.
By 2020 this had included the Weston Wishes exercise, which attracted more than 5,000 responses, Weston Wanders, Design Lab, Work Weston and Wild Weston.
Feedback and information collected from these events led to the creation of the Weston Placemaking Strategy and informed these latest proposals for the Tropicana as a multi-use, year-round entertainment space.
Most recently, two public drop-in events were held last September by architects RCKa.
More than 250 people attended to discover more about the project and discuss early proposed designs for the building before the planning application was submitted.
Following these events, Exeter-based KTA Architects, working with Morgan Sindall Construction, collaborated with RCKa to evolve designs while taking on board people’s views.
See the full planning application on our website using reference 24/P/2691/R3.
The work is due to be completed by March 2026, subject to planning approval.
The Tropicana project is part of our ambitious placemaking vision for Weston, made possible thanks to our successful bid for £20m from the UK government.
