Work is underway on latest stage of £1.6M improvements to Roker Park

WORK is underway on a new café and amphitheatre at Sunderland's historic Roker Park.

With a choice of indoor and outdoor seating, the café will offer views of the Victorian park's Grade II listed bandstand as well as the fairy dell and ravine. While a landscaping scheme will see amphitheatre style seating overlooking the bandstand and improvements to existing planting schemes. 

New images released to tie in with the start of work, show how the new café and amphitheatre seating will look once it is complete.

Sunderland City Council has also confirmed that Hannah Jackson-Harrison, the creator behind the popular Flamingo Cafe in Seaham and Joanne Woods have been chosen as the operators of the new café.

Councillor John Price, Cabinet Member for Vibrant City at Sunderland City Council said: "This is the latest stage in the continued transformation of one of our most popular parks which has already seen the restoration of water features in the park including the waterfall and the boating lake.

"The City Council has invested more than £10m on regenerating the seafront over the last few years, making it a destination for residents and visitors from the wider region and beyond. The programme of improvements to Roker Park builds on this investment, preserving the park's historic features at the same time as providing new attractions to keep families coming back time after time.

"We're also pleased to announce that the creator behind the Flamingo Cafe in Seaham has been confirmed as the operator of the park's new café. I think the café and amphitheatre with their excellent views over the bandstand and fairy dell will be a huge asset for the park, improving the offer for residents and visitors alike."

"Later this summer we're also going the be pressing ahead with the restoration of the historic Grade II bandstand, refurbishing the former park-keepers' lodge and installing an accessible changing places toilet in the third and final stage of the current improvements to the park."

Hannah Jackson-Harrison, who will be running the new café with colleague Joanne Woods, said: "We're really excited about becoming part of the community at Roker. We hope to bring something new and refreshing to the area with our menu. Our beautiful seafront already brings lots of people to the area but we hope to increase this and that this will also benefit other local businesses. We are so proud to have been chosen to occupy the unit in the park. The plans the council has in place for its regeneration are fantastic.

"Since the regeneration of the seafront, the area has thrived non-stop with an array of great businesses such as Love Lily, Fausto, Six Pier point, and North, all bringing in different dining aspects. We hope to add to the vast choice for locals and visitors and can't wait for it to open."

In addition to the café and amphitheatre seating, work is also due to start in the next few weeks on a six week programme of improvements to the tennis courts in Roker Park. This is as part of a £380,000 investment aimed at breathing new life into 17 tennis courts in parks across the city. This comes after Sunderland City Council secured more than £310,000 from the Government and the LTA Tennis Foundation, which it is match funding with £71,000 from its own budget to improve the tennis courts.

The café is due to open to the public later this summer.