Building excitement ahead of Spanish City reopening

Creative students at John Spence Community High School are recreating the famous Spanish City funfair – out of Lego.

Members of the school’s Lego club have spent hours each week after class painstakingly recreating the famous funfair brick-by-brick.

Thousands of pieces of Lego have gone into the model so far, which, when complete, will be proudly displayed in the new Spanish City when it reopens in the summer.

The funfair featured iconic rides such as the Corkscrew rollercoaster, Figure 8 and Mystic Maze and was a permanent attraction at the Spanish City for many years.

The Lego club members have been tasked with building different parts of the funfair – including a ferris wheel and carousel – using old photos to make them as accurate as possible.

North Tyneside’s Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn CBE paid the group a special visit to see their progress first-hand and offer them some encouragement.

She said: “I was delighted to spend some time with the students involved in the Lego club and hear all about their efforts and hard work to recreate the funfair – they’re doing an amazing job.

“The Spanish City funfair was loved by residents and people from far and wide so it’s fantastic that this hugely important piece of our heritage is being celebrated in this way and the model will be on display for a whole new generation of visitors to the venue.

“Like many others, I look forward to seeing it in the Dome when it reopens and reminisce about lovely times spent at the funfair while enjoying the exciting new, revamped surroundings.”

Teacher Jill Armstrong added: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Mayor to the club and update her on the progress – I know the students really appreciated her taking the time to pay us a visit.

“The idea to recreate the funfair came about after we were given a tour of the Spanish City some time ago to see how the restoration work was progressing.

“We spotted a fantastic space inside which was ideal for a model version and now we just can’t wait to see the finished version proudly on display for all to see.”

Kris Nelson, a trainee construction manager at Robertson North East who are carrying out the restoration work, also visited the group to offer his expert advice.

He said: “I’ve been really impressed by the efforts so far, especially with the moving elements of the Ferris wheel. I’m sure there could be some budding structural engineers of the future within the team!

“We’re all very pleased to see young people showing a keen interest in construction albeit with plastic bricks, but the guys should be immensely proud of what they have created!”

The Spanish City restoration is being delivered by North Tyneside Council through its contractors Robertson Construction. It was designed by architecture firm ADP and comes after the council secured a £3.47m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The council has invested £4m and also secured a Coastal Communities Fund grant of more than £2.5m.

It will be run by Kymel Trading and will feature a dedicated function space, traditional tearoom, fish and chip restaurant and takeaway, ice cream and waffle house, fine-dining restaurant and champagne bar.

It is central to the council’s Seafront Master Plan, which includes upwards of £36m of public and private sector investment and is aimed at making the area even more attractive to visitors, residents and businesses.

Find out more about coastal regeneration here and keep up-to-date with the latest progress at https://www.facebook.com/WBMasterPlan/