Built in 1920, the Scenic Railway fell into disrepair when the attraction closed in 2005 and was then badly damaged by an arson attack in 2008. The refurbishment of the Grade II* listed ride is part of an £18m project to reopen the amusement park in 2015. The rollercoaster has been dismantled and gradually re-built over 10 months with all the wooden parts being replaced. Unfortunately it won't be ready for the opening on 19th June 2015.
If you have already bought tickets, these will still be valid for the day you booked and you will be given a second ticket to come back free once the Scenic Railway is open. The date of this will be announced soon. It is the only delay and visitors will still will be able to enjoy the 17 other restored, up-cycled and retro-fitted rides. Not to mention the roller disco, pleasure gardens, plus arcades and amusements from the golden age of the British seaside.
Famous designer Wayne Hemingway, appointed to deliver the new project, said:
The Scenic Railway is the kind of thing that people will shed a tear over when it starts to run again. You have to pinch yourself sometimes because there were times when we were thinking this project seemed to be going round and round in circles. Finally the community won and it feels like the battle is over but the journey is just beginning.
In 2013, Thanet District Council compulsory purchased the site, which was once home to Europe's largest big wheel, after an order was granted by the government. Most of the funding has been granted by the Department for Culture Media and Sport's Sea Change programme, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the council. Vintage fairground rides from around the UK are being, relocated and restored for the new amusement park as well as classic sideshows, vintage cafes, restaurants and gardens.
Considered to be the oldest-surviving amusement park in the Great Britain, Dreamland's origins date back to the great British railway boom of the early 1860s when, in its original form, the Hall by the Sea (originally a railway terminal building) was operated by the famous circus impresario, 'Lord' George Sanger.
For many generations Dreamland thrilled and delighted visitors to Margate and sustained her community. In 2006 the amusement park closed following an announcement to build housing on the site triggering a 6 year-long campaign to save Dreamland and this vital aspect of British seaside amusement park heritage.
The Dreamland Trust emerged from the campaign, and worked with partners to secure £12m public funding to restore Dreamland and its jewels: the Grade II*-listed Scenic Railway, Grade II*-listed cinema complex and Grade II-listed menagerie cages. Thanet District Council compulsorily-purchased the 16-acre site in September 2013 and work has now begun restoring the iconic Scenic Railway and a collection of important historic rides, as well as breathing new life into the lower ground floor of the cinema building, with sympathetic landscaping, exciting design and contemporary branding.
For more information, see www.dreamlandmargate.com
