Seafront Kiosks...

Excuse me for being away, no access to a laptop (I really do like having a break!), but I'm back in Hastings and, this morning, well, the kiosk at the bottom of the America Ground on White Rock Promenade is still nowhere near finished, I've seen houses built 3 times as fast! Surely this should have been completed before the Summer season started, but then, it will be, I presume... Summer 2017!

Now I see that there is a proposal for another kiosk to the west of the Pier, above Bottle Alley (see HBC website for details regarding "Expressions of Interest"). The closing date is  the 28th of October 2016... and built by 2018, if the other kiosk is anything to go by!

White Rock Promenade Trees and stuff!

Early morning walks for me, before it gets too hot to walk in the sun, and views of the new trees planted along the White Rock Promenade...

It's coming along, though the Pier looks a wee bit empty now!

White Rock Promenade

How it looks now and how the plans show it, it's getting there, gradually...

Early morning walks...

It's been so warm recently (I'm a cool dude, as in, I prefer cool weather!), I've changed my sleep pattern, and have been out early doors for walks...

Quite frankly, it's also spectacular at times, I even saw a half-rainbow this morning, and it wasn't even raining, yet (the photograph was rubbish, so not here, sorry)! 

Coming up to the Pier, but a shame the sunrise hasn't come out better here...

What I have noticed, though, is that the circus lights appear to have been on all night!

SEE!

Back of the kiosk

Oh, and I noticed the kiosk at the bottom of Robertson Street, on the promenade towards White Rock and the Pier, is getting there-ish. 

See you in the early morning sometime, maybe

Old Town Walk + White Rock Promenade Update

The Tuesday 2.30pm free guided walk of the Old Town meets again up by the top of the West Hill Lift, very good weather forecast; organised by Old Hastings Preservation Society, therefore donations to this charity are very welcome, many thanks; see website.

The Kiosk near to Robertson Street on the White Rock promenade update...

As the Kiosk looked in the plans, getting there!

Pier and Promenade Update.

Looking down to the Pier, and I noticed that most of the funfair had disappeared! However, on reaching the Pier I saw that it had been resettled further down, just after The Deck, all excepting the carousel, in fact, and the reason why? A circus is coming to the Pier, towards the evacuated front, although, I was told, the carousel will remain towards the front of The Deck (Pier website).

The White Rock Promenade's resurfacing is complete...

And the Kiosk towards Robertson Street is about to get there too! See my blog last year about the plans for the regeneration of this stretch between the Pier and America Ground.

White Rock Promenade

Going back 11 months and the proposed regeneration of the White Rock Promenade was being exhibited at the White Rock Hotel (see link), is this the start of the proposed information kiosk?

Is it?

And, is the new surfacing leading to the Pier the start of the 'Pop Up' trading area?

Things do appear to be happening...

From St Leonards to the America Ground - It's getting there!

A wander along the seafront, and a little research, finds that the work has started, at last, on refurbishing Bottle Alley, first mentioned on this blog a little over a year ago (page).  

Blocked off at the Pier end for now!

At the Pier itself, some of the huts have been moved away from the front, and, way down there, restoration continues at the far end of the pier...

The external cladding of the Visitors Centre has been completed, and the glass balustrade on its roof appears to be completed. Opening in a couple of months or so! (website) 

Meanwhile, the first target of the White Rock Promenade rejuvenation (previous blog), The Source Park, has had a coat of paint or two added, ready for opening on Saturday next week on the 13th of February (website). 

It is getting there, slowly but surely!

White Rock promenade regeneration

Earlier today I visited the White Rock Hotel, where Hastings Borough Council exhibited a public display of the plans and images of the proposed improvements to the White Rock promenade, providing an “attractive link” from the end of Robertson Street at the America Ground, to the pier itself. The Council are seeking feedback, which they will accept until Friday next week (19th June). 

The first new feature you will reach on leaving Robertson Street (on the other side of the road, on the promenade, of course!) will be a raised decked area with a kiosk. This will be situated before you reach the old White Rock Baths (I've previously blogged about it becoming a BMX park etc), which itself will have its entrance building and walls repainted.

After passings the baths, the existing water feature will be “revitalised”, a small stage area added for licenced buskers, with a new water cascading feature below the stage. After the Boer War Memorial, another new decked area will be added, providing space for “pop-up” trading and food stalls, before reaching the rebuilt People's Pier.  

The new features will be made of sustainable hardwood timber, railings will be repainted, up to 10 mature trees grown in timber planters will be added to the scheme, the existing tarmac surface will be repaired and covered with a resin bound material, and East Sussex County Council have provided assurance that all the street lighting columns will have been replaced in time for the completion. Further details can be found at the Council website.    

The project will be jointly financed by a central government Coastal Communities Fund grant, the Foreshore Trust and Hastings Borough Council. The architect is Neil Choudhury (website), who was also at the presentation.