SOUTHEND RISING
Follow us on social media
  • Home
  • Latest News
    • Your News
  • About Southend
    • Getting to Southend
    • Eating and sleeping
    • Useful links
  • Gallery
  • Publicity services
    • Advertise
    • Business Booster
  • Directory
    • Accounting and financial services
    • Automotive, travel and transport services
    • Business services
    • Design and print
    • Housing services
    • Entertainment and tourism
    • Health, hair and beauty
    • Hotels and accommodation
    • Insurance and legal services
    • Media, marketing and publishing
    • Mother and baby
    • Photography
    • Recruitment services
    • Restaurants, bars and clubs
    • Retail shopping
    • Trades
  • About us
    • Contact Us
    • Terms & Conditions

Sun shelter set for £300,000 cafe revamp

2/4/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
From the Echo

A RUNDOWN seafront sun shelter is set to undergo a £300,000 makeover to be turned into a modern bar and eatery.

Antonia Waite, 28, from Leigh, expects to sign a lease on the locally-listed landmark in The Leas after Southend Council selected her as preferred bidder for the revamp.

It is a first venture into running a restaurant for Antonia, who works in her father’s accountancy firm.

However, Antonia comes from good stock from the trade: Her grandparents opened Tomassi’s in Southend High Street in the Thirties.

Antonia, who is the daughter of former council leader Anna Waite, hopes to start building work in late summer, if a planning application and the lease are finalised.

Provisionally called Seaside Rock, she hopes the venue will open from 8am to 10pm, and plans to preserve the majority of the original building.

She said: “I have waited tables in my grandparents’ restaurant and have the experience of seeing them run the business, but have never run my own catering establishment.

“We are looking at a light-touch design to preserve and enhance the locally-listed building.

“New doors will go in, but we will keep the original windows and frames. There will be no dramatic changes. Inside there will be a kitchen and bar in the mid section, it will be an open kitchen.”

The front of the venue will include open-air seating, with the possibility of music, such as violin performances, while people eat. The shelter would serve cafe food and brunches throughout the day, with a different menu in the evening.

Antonia also hopes to make ice cream there and serve a range of sundaes.

She added: “This is always something I have wanted to do and it is a lovely building.

“If we get the planning permission and start building in late summer, we aim to be open for spring 2015.”

The shelter has been unused for a number of years and fell into disrepair after years of use by drunks and homeless people.

Alan Richards, Southend Council’s group asset manager, said: “The council received some excellent expressions of interest for the redevelopment of the shelter and has now selected a preferred bidder with whom, subject to contract negotiations, we are progressing with positively.”

Cafe owner Ray Holden fears the new eatery could signal the end of the popular Arches eateries.

Mr Holden, who runs the Fountain cafe in Palmeira Arches, Western Esplanade, said: “I feel another food outlet in our area will see the end to these iconic cafes.

“Even though our summer last year was the best in recent years, the whole year to date has been very bad.

“Obviously the weather pays a big part in our trade, but in recent years we have seen the toilet block, Toulouse restaurant, and the new Beach hut open, these along with other restaurants in the area affects, the trade at the Arches.

“I would say most seafront traders are struggling to make ends meet again due to the bad weather and to the extortionate rents we are asked to pay by our council, which own the Arches leases.

“I find it unfair that we are not allowed to have permanent structures so we can operate properly in the winter months and other businesses are popping up all around us with permanent structures, toilets and peppercorn rents.

“Before too long there will be 13 empty arches the council will have on its books to sell.”

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Send us your news

    Please send your press releases, photos and videos to [email protected]

    RSS Feed




    Archives

    May 2022
    June 2020
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    Business
    Education And Training
    Education And Training
    Employment
    Housing
    Infrastructure
    Investment
    Leisure
    Regeneration
    Retail
    Sustainability
    Tourism
    Travel

    RSS Feed


    Southend Rising

    Promote Your Page Too
    Click to set custom HTML

Latest News

Your news



About Southend

Getting to Southend
Eating and Sleeping

Gallery
​
Useful links

Directory




PR services

Advertise​ 
​Business Booster

Jobs

Current vacancies
Advertise your vacancies

About Us

Contact Us
Terms and Conditions

© 2022 Southend Rising                                                                                                                                                                                                        Site by Amygdala Press