New location for Southampton's Spitfire memorial (From Daily Echo)
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New location for Southampton's Spitfire memorial
9:31am Wednesday 4th November 2009 in
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- By Peter Law » Feature Writer
A NEW waterfront location for Southampton’s Spitfire tribute can today be revealed.
The 50m landmark is set to be a part of a major regeneration of Southampton’s old docks and welcome thousands of cruise passengers to the city. It will rise up on land beside the historic Trafalgar dry dock, which lies abandoned immediately adjacent to the new £19m Ocean Terminal.
Port bosses ABP have approved the new site after a feasibility study found the structure would be too heavy for Town Quay.
The tribute will form part of a new heritage project at the docks that also includes a restored tram system and historic vessels such as the restored tug tender Calshot.
Southampton City Council is also in talks with ABP about reopening Dock Gate 5, at Town Quay, to allow public access to the Spitfire by foot.
Cllr John Hannides, chairman of the Spitfire Tribute Foundation, believes the monument will be visible from vantage points in the city.
“We are delighted that ABP have shown such great support for this milestone project for the city,” Cllr Hannides said.
View Spitfire Tribute locations in a larger map
“Trafalgar dock is only about 100m from the original location at Town Quay and it will be a magnificent backdrop for the waterfront and for the new Ocean Terminal.”
The move saves £500,000 from the project budget – now estimated at £1.7m – as there is no longer a need for an underwater substructure.
Plans for the tribute were launched late last year after a longrunning campaign by the Daily Echo to finally honour the men and women who built and flew the Second World War fighter plane.
It has received the backing of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and been described as the city’s equivalent to New York’s Statue of Liberty.
The feasibility study is being paid for out of the £70,000 of taxpayers’ money allocated by Southampton council towards the project. However, no taxpayer’s cash will spent on its construction.
It is hoped that the construction will be completed during 2011.
Comments(19)
mick sterbs
says...
10:12am Wed 4 Nov 09
whats wrong with the corner of mayflower park on the right as you look toward the water.
Allotment man 66
says...
10:50am Wed 4 Nov 09
Bartonian wrote:If you put the Spitfire Memorial on the roundabout on the top of the avenue it would a complete disaster, it's miles from were it was designed and built.
When will they ever get this memorial done? Every time we read something, there are delays and changes. Why don't they go to the manufacturer of spitfire memorials, as shown on the james may world of toys programme and place it on the roundabout at the top of Bassett Avenue. That would be a great place, as a lot of people drive into the city on this road, and the memorial would resemble the genuine article. Are you taking note SCC?
The best place to put it is in the location were it started life, and thousands of people from around the world can appreciate it.
And it would keep Southampton a wow factor.
Newforest
says...
10:52am Wed 4 Nov 09
goard
says...
10:52am Wed 4 Nov 09
goard
Allotment man 66
says...
11:05am Wed 4 Nov 09
goard wrote:Goard
Oh yeh! I will believe it when I see it - and why £70,000 out of our pockets - I bet those employed in previous projects are driving around in their Rolls. You Planners must think we are NEVER pleased - please look back on just how Soton has been treated. Can anyone say that our glass and steel buildings, our huge container port, the scene from any boat just come into Port and overlooking the most hidious bird's eye view of tin roofs and the mind crushing sight of blue IKEA. It may be good for business but who the h... sanctioned that colour? So roll on the Spitfire, which I value beyond belief (my dad helped to do make the tools at Supermarine) and often wonder why it was not put on that site. I am a Sotonian born and bred and all these Tom, Dick and Harry's put in charge of re-building Soton - no quality no taste. goard
Your dad helped to make the tools and my mother helped build the aircraft.
(And that's even more reason to locate were the proposed site, a memorial to the people made it).
AndyAndrews
says...
11:19am Wed 4 Nov 09
mick sterbs wrote:If it ever gets built at all, it will be easy to see from the end of the Town Quay, which has public access and its own carpark.
thats it, put it somewhere the public cannot get to unless in a boat..... whats wrong with the corner of mayflower park on the right as you look toward the water.
soton1980
says...
11:29am Wed 4 Nov 09
now in the north
says...
11:30am Wed 4 Nov 09
With services due to be cut by 40% and tax increases due for the foreseeable future, despite already using 80% of our income on taxes of somekind....
The powers that be are intending to spend £1.7 million pounds on another piece of art work.
Im certain that the men and women, our frugal ancestors, would rather the money go to good use instead of being frittered on a spitfire that wont ever fly!
mick sterbs
says...
11:59am Wed 4 Nov 09
AndyAndrews wrote:yes we'll see it, i'd like to get close to it as well.
mick sterbs wrote: thats it, put it somewhere the public cannot get to unless in a boat..... whats wrong with the corner of mayflower park on the right as you look toward the water.If it ever gets built at all, it will be easy to see from the end of the Town Quay, which has public access and its own carpark.
MrGMan
says...
12:51pm Wed 4 Nov 09
now in the north wrote:The money comes from fundraising not council tax as per the Echos article!
Hold on a minute.... With services due to be cut by 40% and tax increases due for the foreseeable future, despite already using 80% of our income on taxes of somekind.... The powers that be are intending to spend £1.7 million pounds on another piece of art work. Im certain that the men and women, our frugal ancestors, would rather the money go to good use instead of being frittered on a spitfire that wont ever fly!
Condor Man
says...
1:20pm Wed 4 Nov 09
Brite Spark
says...
1:52pm Wed 4 Nov 09
Condor Man wrote:Good poing CM he did it on a very small budget and job was done in a week, how long will Southampton Council take over this?
Why not get James May to make another 'lifesize' Airfix Spitfire as he did on TV last week?
It would be nice to be able to take my son fishing under the Spitfire memorial, there's some big bass down there, I suppose that the Council wont allow that as well.
Linesman
says...
2:37pm Wed 4 Nov 09
What relevance have these sites got to the production of this great aircraft?
gorf
says...
2:46pm Wed 4 Nov 09
southy
says...
2:55pm Wed 4 Nov 09
Newforest wrote:right next door to this locaton, aquila airways took over from the imperial airways flying boats at the same location.
Didn't find any reference to Aquila Airways which were located very close to this location?
Jammy Donut
says...
5:36pm Wed 4 Nov 09
Linesman
says...
11:13pm Wed 4 Nov 09
Rocker268
says...
3:33pm Thu 5 Nov 09
soton1980 wrote:I agree, if the council ran a proper tram system to the site and centre, all the way to Bargate and redeveloped the site into a few nice restaurants and maybe a few shops based on the same sort of idea as Gunwharf then people would be drawn to the sea front and we would actually make use of the structure.
I like the idea of this new 'heritage project' and think it would be a good location for the spitfire, so long as people could access it on foot. However, I fear that like most of the monuments/'art' we've had in recent years, it will be half-arsed, stupidly over-priced and ill-thought out. For instance a tram running from somewhere in the city centre to the docks for this heritage site, a few nice restaurants and a proper museum there would be great. But instead, the new heritage museum will be in the civic centre and I doubt any tram will run all the way to the city centre. I just wish the council would have more ambition and although it shames me to say it, they need to pick up some tips from Portsmouth. Pompey have celebrated the history of their city with a number of good (but overpriced) museums, but Southampton as usual is seriously lacking. We have a rich history, it's just a crying shame that it is underutilised.
The waterfront always makes me feel ashamed whenever I am down there, Southampton has such potential and yet wastes it and just sits around talking about things
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Bartonian says...
9:36am Wed 4 Nov 09