The were in fact three facilities that displayed dolphins in Southend between 1969 and 1974.
The first was a summer show in 1969 that was housed in the Kursaal amusement centre. The show was owned by James (Jim) Tiebor: an American by birth whose father had been the well known sea lion trainer Roland Tiebor. Jim Tiebor had moved from the United States to Germany where he based his company the Florida Dolphin Shows which supplied animal shows to various theme parks and attractions in Europe. The two dolphins at the Kursaal were Sinbad and Sally. These two animals returned to Germany at the end of the 1969 season.
The second and third dolphinariums were both operated by the owners of the Queens Hotel Dolphinarium Louis Holloway and Keith Franklin. They expanded their dolphinarium franchise from their Cliftonville Hotel in Margate, Kent to Southend and later the seaside resort of Skegness in Lincolnshire. The shows were seasonal with animals returning to their Margate base in the winter.
Their first Southend dolphinarium opened in 1971 at the Westcliff on Sea seawater swimming pool. The pool had become vacant due to the construction of a new indoor swimming pool in Southend. The dolphinarium operated for one season before the site was purchase by the Brent Walker Leisure group for redevelopment.
They then constructed a new pool for the 1970 season on the east side of the pier in a site that was originally a children's puppet theatre. The dolphinarium operated until 1974 when the site was abandoned by the owners. The site became derelict and was eventually demolished in 1976. The site was eventually taken over by the adjacent Adventure Island Theme Park and became a crazy golf course.
A Review of Dolphinaria states regarding the last dolphinarium at Southend.
An outdoor exhibit, with a 10.70 m diameter, 2.13-2.44 m deep plastic lined sunken pool. Open for about 10 weeks in summer, with dolphins wintering at Margate, at winter shows in the UK and abroad or exported. Williamson and Schomberg (1976) report that an educational lecture was available on request. Mr Holloway and Mr Franklin are noted as trainers in 1974.
See an article from the Southend Timeline web page for more information on dolphin displays in Southend HERE.
Whenever I tell people there were dolphins in Southend nobody remembers. Thank you for providing me with the evidence.
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