THE opening of Bangor’s long-awaiting £14m Marine Gardens revamp has been put back to next year, largely due to construction delays.
Developers Bangor Marine are blaming wet weather for delays in laying concrete and materials from China not being delivered on time.
Marine Gardens is the first phase of the giant Queen’s Parade development scheme and will include three huge bronze hands sculptures by renowned Bangor artist Colin Davidson. The completed first phase was due to be handed to Ards and North Down Council in late October.
However, only the McKee Clock arena section of Marine Gardens will be handed over to the council this year, although not until November.
The delay means the city’s Christmas festivities will have to be scaled back.
Bangor Marine has advised the council that the Marine Gardens area could not be completed ‘due to it being one of the wettest periods during 2026 which resulted in the concrete areas not being able to be laid’.
The developers have also blamed the delay on ‘some of the materials, especially from China, not being delivered on time’, according to council papers, due to be discussed at a Council committee meeting tonight. Bangor’s eagerly-anticipated seafront scheme has been mired in controversy for months, after plans to remove a green area and replace it with an 81-space paid car park outraged local residents.
It is now anticipated the McKee Clock arena will be open to the public for the Christmas lights switch-on weekend of November 21,
The remainder of phase one, including the ‘sunken gardens, grassed areas, promenade and central focal point’ are all now expected to open to the public in March 2027.
All three pieces of Colin Davidson’s ‘Eclipse’ series of hand sculptures, including the Dove, the Swan and The Crab, will be stored once completed, and launched together next spring.
The remaining and most contentious part of the scheme, the controversial plan to redevelop part of the western end of Marine Gardens into a car park and £1m play park is subject to planning permission and ‘estimated for spring/summer 2027’.
The delay also means the city’s Christmas programme has been revised and a smaller entertainment programme will take place, according to the council papers.
Plans are in the pipeline for a four- week programme, beginning with the Mayor Craig Blaney and Santa ‘flicking a switch’ to ‘turn the McKee Clock arena into a magical, festive space’ on November 21, at 6pm.
Other proposals include a ‘large- scale, bespoke and visually distinctive Christmas tree at the centre of McKee Clock’. At over 19 metres in height, it will ‘help put Bangor on the map as the largest free standing Christmas tree in Northern Ireland’.
There are also plans for a ‘signature lighting installation using dynamic lighting, skyline projections and illuminated features to create an accessible, family friendly experience’.
It is also proposed that an observation wheel, offering panoramic views across Bangor Marina and Belfast Lough, will be a ‘prominent landmark attraction’.
Discussions are also ongoing about festive markets being held throughout the four week period, as well as street entertainment, music, choirs, arts and family activity.
