The sun is finally setting on Rhyl’s Sun Centre – described as the town’s ‘biggest ever success’ with demolition workers moving onto the site and starting to tear down the beloved water park, as the resort’s seafront begins its latest re-birth thanks to a £29 million development.
The North Wales Pioneer writes:
The removal of the former landmark – which in its heyday had tropical storm effects, a wave pool, novelty slides and an indoor surfing pool – will pave the way for Denbighshire County Council’s plans to refurbish Rhyl Pavilion’s Theatre and build a new 4,000 sqm exhibition and events centre. The development will act as an extension to the theatre and offer space to hold Christmas fairs, an ice rink and a Santa’s Grotto.
As part of Rhyl’s regeneration, a new aquatic centre is to be built further down the promenade.
Residents and former visitors to the town are sure to mourn the flagship attraction as it joins the long list of former crowd-pleasers in the resort including Rhyl pier, the original Pavilion Theatre, the Gaiety Theatre, amphitheatre, the open air swimming pool, the Royal Floral Hall and the short-lived monorail.
Historian Colin Jones, who runs the Rhyl Life blog, said: ‘The Sun Centre was the biggest success we ever had. The total cost was about £4.5 million and it was money well spent. Its indoor surfing pool was the first in Europe, there were crazy novelty slides, a big wave machine and a monorail at a height around the interior of the complex. Visitors flocked there and spent money all over town.’
A spokesperson from Rhyl History Club added: ‘I think lots of people have fond memories of the Sun Centre but personally, I’m not sorry to see it go. Time moves on and things change. I certainly never saw it as an iconic building. One thing I did love about the Sun Centre was that wherever you went in the world and said you were from Rhyl, someone would always say – Oh, I’ve been to the Suncentre.’
The Sun Centre opened in 1980 and closed in 2014 when the trust set up to run it, Clwyd Leisure, went into administration.
