Fears Scarborough's Alpamare will close for good after owners go into administration
Earlier this month it was confirmed the facility would shut for the Winter
The owner of Scarborough's Alpamare Water park has gone into administration prompting fresh fears it could now close for good.
Earlier this month it was announced Benchmark Leisure would be shutting the facility for the Winter with hopes it would re open in the Spring.
But administrators now say the situation is "complex" and they're looking at different options, including selling.
Questions are also being raised about millions of pounds of taxpayer money that was loaned to the developer in 2013.
Sir Robert Goodwill, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, has called for “a full forensic investigation into how these finances have been managed”.
He added: “Right from the start Benchmark have failed to deliver what they said they would and sadly it’s come to this”.
Sir Robert told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “In my view, the priority of North Yorkshire Council should be to try and get it reopened by Easter, it is an asset that we should ensure continues to deliver for locals and tourists alike.”
"A crying shame"
Alpamare opened in Scarborough’s North Bay in 2016 with the help of a £9m bail-out loan from the now-defunct Scarborough Council and as of November last year, it still owed North Yorkshire Council £7.8m.
Shirley Smith, president of the Scarborough Hospitality Association, described it as “a crying shame”, adding that she was concerned about the loss of business “especially from day trippers”.
She said: “It was a beautiful place to go and the best thing we had in Scarborough, we could even go there in the winter when there was nothing else.”
North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director for community development, Nic Harne, said the council had been notified and would be “liaising with the administrators and considering all options available to us at this time with a view to minimising the impact on us and the Scarborough area.”
Coun Eric Broadbent, who represents the Northstead division where the waterpark is based, said: “It’s very sad and I’m very disappointed as there will be a knock-on effect and local people will feel it.”