Ruined pier 'not without beauty'

By Clark Ainsworth
BBC News, Brighton

Fans of the West Pier say the structure still has a beauty

Over the past five years the wreck of one of Sussex's finest piers has almost become a feature rather than a eyesore on Brighton's seafront.

Fire ripped through the West Pier on 28 March 2003, stripping the structure down to its metal skeleton.

Following a second blaze two months later the Heritage Lottery Fund withdrew funding for its restoration.

Successive storms damaged it further and ended any hope campaigners had of restoring the pier to its former glory.

Since then its blackened frame, which lurks in the shallows off the seafront, has become a much photographed landmark that is still loved by some.

The skeleton island which is standing and presents no risk will stay... it has its beauty Rachel Clark, West Pier Trust

Rachel Clark, of the West Pier Trust, said the fires and storms had stripped it of its Victorian grandeur but left it with a strange kind of beauty - a blessing in disguise, she said.

Ms Clark said: "When the first arson attack happened we were on the brink of the restoration of the pier.

"The first arson attack didn't stop those plans; it was the second attack in May."

Following the loss of the reconstruction funding plans, the trust unveiled designs for the construction of i360, an iconic building "in the spirit of the pier's history".

Viewing pod

Planning approval for a 183m (600ft) observation tower on Brighton seafront was given final government approval in April 2007.

Ms Clark added: "We are excited by the i360 project.

"In design terms the building should have the same impact that the West pier had in 1866 when it was a cutting edge design."

Part of the pier wil be demolished to make way for the tower

A viewing pod will take people on a 20-minute ride up the spire, where the views from the top will reach for 25 miles to Bognor in the west and Eastbourne in the east.

The trust says work will start on the i360 tower during the summer and a heritage centre will also be built on the seafront close to the site of the pier which closed in 1975.

Ms Clark said: "There are quite a lot of artefacts from the structure that are in storage that we expect to use in the heritage centre.

"There are two complete kiosks from 1866 when the pier opened that may be rebuilt."

Construction of the tower will see the demolition of the promenade end of the West Pier but Ms Clark said there were no plans to pull down the remaining structure.

She said: "There are two elements of the remains. The collapsed concert hall that is just lying in the sea, which the trust is obliged to get rid of... that will be removed in the next few years.

"The skeleton island which is standing and presents no risk will stay as it is for the time being. It has its beauty. It's a memorial to the pier."

'Great regret'

And the trust still hopes to rebuild the West Pier in a modern design once the i360 tower has been completed.

The trust says the skeletal island will not be pulled down

"There will be a rebuilt pier. It won't be a full reconstruction but we will rebuild the West Pier, in support of the old pier, with a new cutting edge design," Ms Clark said.

"Once work has started on the i360 then we can develop this further.

This is not just a pipe dream - we have developers. But it's crucial that the work on the i360 starts and that is the main thing at the moment."

Ms Clark said: "It has turned out quite well but that isn't to say that there is not a great deal of regret."