Tower Park

[2] The leisure park, which opened in 1989, was a development initiated by local Dorset businessman Bill Riddle, who operated a landfill site in the area.

[2] Riddle funded the project by selling some land at Mannings Heath to Tesco and much of the park was leased to Allied Leisure PLC.

The original attractions included a 10-screen UCI cinema, Megabowl (a 30-lane bowling alley), Ice Trax skating rink, Splashdown Waterpark and an 1,850-capacity nightclub called The Venue, which became one of the leading ‘superclubs’ in the country.

[2] Although the complex as a whole was rescued by its sale to Tower Park Properties, neither the Ice Trax skating rink nor The Venue nightclub proved to be commercially viable in the longer term.

[3] In 2003, Tower Park was sold to X-Leisure, a company headed by PY Gerbeau, which added it to its Xscape brand.

The following year X-Leisure invested £5m in refurbishing and expanding the facilities in the park, including adding additional restaurant units.

[2] The existing buildings were also given new cladding and an open plaza created between Splashdown and the cinema, allowing the new restaurants to have outside seating.

The front of Tower Park, Poole