Leaseholder may sell iconic Kursaal, says council

The leaseholder of an iconic but neglected seaside venue may be willing to sell it, according to a council leader.

Property group AEW holds a 250-year lease on the Kursaal, which opened in 1901 and has hosted acts such as Queen and AC/DC.

Daniel Cowan, leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council, said he would do "everything we can" to get the building, which is mostly empty, reopened.

An AEW spokesman said: "We are focused on finalising a long-term solution for the Kursaal and hope to conclude these discussions in the near future."

Thought to be the world's first entertainment park, the Kursaal was placed in the Victorian Society's top 10 list of endangered buildings in 2024.

It is owned by the Labour-run city council but overseen by AEW.

"In previous years, perhaps the leaseholders have not been held very strongly to account," Cowan said, speaking to Sonia Watson on BBC Essex.

"We are meeting regularly and also doing what we can to help them to find buyers as well."

The council leader believed AEW had realised the building was "something they don't have the expertise to deliver on" long-term.

AEW signed the lease in March 2018 - a move agreed without debate by councillors, as revealed by a Freedom of Information request.

Lee Clark, from Southend's Confelicity Party, submitted the request. He previously said: "It's disgusting to see such an iconic building crumbling before our eyes."

On Wednesday, the council named the Kursaal on a list of neglected sites it wanted to bring into use through encouragement and enforcement.

It called the list the "dirty dozen", featuring 11 other sites.

The AEW spokesman said the council had been kept updated during discussions on the Kursaal's future.

"We are not in a position to say anything further while commercial negotiations are ongoing," he added.

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