Blackpool's Empress Ballroom suffers partial ceiling collapse

Published Monday 8 February 2010 at 16:35 by Robin Duke
Future events at Blackpool's historic Empress Ballroom could be in doubt after part of its ceiling collapsed. Winter Gardens bosses called off a concert by indie band Enter Shikari last weekend when pieces of plaster from the room's ornate ceiling fell to the ballroom floor during a sound check. Forthcoming events could now be in jeopardy while structural engineers investigate the problem. During the course of the day the concert was to take place some small pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling creating a snow effect on the ballroom floor, said Michael Williams, operations director of venue owners Leisure Parcs. As a precaution and after consulting the show promoter we had to cancel the Enter Shikari concert. We will now arrange a full structural inspection and in the mean time to avoid further disruption to clients and ticket holders, shows will be transferred to other venues. The ballroom has hosted the World Matchplay darts tournament since 1994 and is also a center for ballroom dancing and street dance.The Winter gardens is currently the subject of a £40 million plus bid  from Blackpool Council which also includes The Tower and various Golden Mile attractions.