Tower Park facts for kids
Tower Park is a fun place with lots of activities and shops. It is located in Mannings Heath, near Poole, in Dorset, England. When it first opened in 1989, it was one of the first places of its kind in Europe.
History of Tower Park
Tower Park first opened its doors in 1989. A local businessman from Dorset, Bill Riddle, started the idea for this leisure park. He used to run a landfill site, which is a place where rubbish is buried, in the same area. The park was built on 53 acres of heathland just outside Poole. Mr. Riddle helped pay for the project by selling some land to Tesco. Many parts of the park were then rented out to a company called Allied Leisure PLC.
Tower Park quickly became very popular. People loved the fun attractions and that parking was free. Some of the first attractions included a 10-screen UCI cinema. There was also Megabowl, a large bowling alley with 30 lanes. Other popular spots were the Ice Trax skating rink and Splashdown Waterpark. There was also a huge nightclub called The Venue. It could hold 1,850 people and became one of the biggest nightclubs in the country.
However, after only three years, the park faced financial trouble. This happened because of a difficult economic time in the early 1990s. The whole park was saved when it was sold to Tower Park Properties. But the Ice Trax skating rink and The Venue nightclub did not do well in the long run. Ice Trax closed in the mid-1990s, and The Venue closed in 1999. It tried to reopen briefly in 2002, but it did not last.
A Tesco supermarket was also built at Tower Park. In 2002, it was found that a petrol leak from the store’s filling station had caused some pollution. This pollution affected the local groundwater for six months. The company worked to fix the issue.
In 2003, Tower Park was sold to a company called X-Leisure. This company was led by PY Gerbeau. X-Leisure added Tower Park to its Xscape brand. The next year, X-Leisure spent £5 million to update and expand the park. They added more restaurants like Pizza Hut, Nando’s, and KFC. The existing buildings also got new outside coverings. A new open area was made between Splashdown and the cinema. This allowed the new restaurants to have outdoor seating. A newly rebuilt Burger King restaurant opened in 2005. The original restaurant had been damaged by fire 18 months earlier.
The cinema was sold to Empire Cinemas in 2004. Empire added six more screens and 500 seats in 2011. This made the cinema one of the biggest in the south of England. In 2016, it was sold again to Cineworld. Gala Bingo had taken over the old Ice Trax building in the mid-1990s. It was renamed Buzz Bingo in 2018. In 2014, a chemical spill at the Splashdown Waterpark led to many people being safely moved out of the attraction.
In 2013, X-Leisure was taken over by Landsec. This is a very large property development company in the UK. Tower Park is still listed by Landsec as one of its leisure properties on its website.
Attractions and Fun Things to Do
The buildings at Tower Park cover a large area. There is an open space between the buildings where you can sit outside. There is also a free car park on the ground level with special spaces for disabled visitors.
Some of the exciting attractions you can find at Tower Park include:
- A Cineworld cinema with 16 screens.
- Splashdown Waterpark with 13 fun outdoor and indoor flume rides.
- Buzz Bingo.
- Lemur Landings, a soft play area for children.
- Hollywood Bowl bowling alley.
- PureGym, a health club.
You can also find many places to eat and drink. These include Burger King, KFC, Nando’s, Days Restaurant, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Pizza Express. A large Tesco supermarket is also located at Tower Park.
