Featured image credit: Danny Howe on Unsplash
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council has finalised the option to lease the former Coatham Bowl site to Coatham Arena Limited (CAL) for the development of a 5,000-capacity multi-purpose indoor arena.
The arena will occupy the seafront site once home to Redcar’s Coatham Bowl, which was demolished in 2014. Before its demolition, the arena hosted a range of music acts.
The council said the new Coatham Arena will provide “state-of-the-art” accommodation for elite entertainment, sporting, conference, exhibition and social events all year round. The building will also feature a permanent and unique visitor attraction.
The £70m (€81.6m/$87.8m) project will be privately funded, with the council receiving an annual rent, business rates and other income, including from a car park to be built by CAL to replace the Majuba Road amenity.
The announcement comes two years after plans for a new 5,000-capacity arena in Redcar were scrapped. At the time, the council said it could not wait any longer to start regenerating the Coatham Bowl site.
It had originally been hoped that the new arena could open by 2024. With the project now back on the agenda following months of negotiations between the council and CAL, there are plans to open the arena by 2028.
CAL chairman Frankie Wales said: “Our agreement with the council provides the foundation for the granting of an option on the land and is tremendous news for Redcar and the wider region. It is welcomed by our many supporters, local businesses and the events industry and allows us to now move forward with a detailed planning application in the expectation it will open by 2028.”
Councillor Alec Brown, council leader, added: “Our administration promised to support this project and we now have seen it through to a successful agreement on terms for leasing the land. The success of this project means securing hundreds of jobs and thousands of visitors to the area, providing a huge boost to our local economy which, research shows, is forecast to be worth over £42m a year.
“We wish CAL the best of luck in preparing their plans and, if successful, delivering this for the people of Redcar and Cleveland. I would like to assure residents that no public money will be involved; it is private investment that is the driving force, which is fantastic and very much welcomed.”
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