Familiar to Victorian visitors was the Marine Spa, a monument of grand architecture built in 1857. Visitors flocked to hear readings by authors such as Charles Dickens or for exotic treatments called the Four Cell Schnee Bath and the cure-all Dartmoor Peat Pack Treatment.
Yet, times moved on and – after a tragic swimming fatality – the Marine Spa closed and was demolished in 1967. The site was eventually redeveloped by Joe Coral, of the bookmakers fame. Opening in 1977, this was the Beacon Leisure & Entertainment Centre, or Coral Island, leaving only the sun terraces to remind us of the old Spa.
Visitors could listen to the Syd Farnham Trio or The Rivieras in the Showbar, and for a few short years, it was the home of Spartacus Disco.
Coral Island struggled to fulfil its promise as an all-year venue and began to shut up shop in the winter. Despite efforts to attract customers with a disco, slot machines, wrestling, bingo, bars and restaurants, the building closed altogether in September 1988.
It then lay derelict for 10 years, an empty graffiti-covered eyesore and an embarrassment to locals:
For a decade there were plans to turn it into either bars, a health spa, fish restaurant, and even an international Christian conference centre. None came to fruition and Coral Island was eventually demolished in 1997 to be replaced by Living Coasts.
Few mourned the passing of Coral Island. Nevertheless, it’s worth remembering the enthusiasm when the centre first opened in 1977. From a review at the time:
“… something to suit all tastes. Inside one can relax in fascinating surroundings, all is luxurious, softly carpeted, tastefully furnished with wide seating, not pushed together for room space.
“The young ones have their place for entertainment and certainly the bingo will not take up so much precedence. Outside the prospects looking towards the gleaming little swimming pool with around it the beautiful panoramic loveliness of Torbay, this looked to me like a part of Capri.”
(image: Looking up at Coral Island Torquay 
All rights reserved by w126uk, courtesy of Duncan Joint)
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