Summerland 40Th Anniversary

[Numbnuts]

49 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

They were....I used to partake of a "little sporting exercise" down there of a Sunday evening and I and colleagues often used to look at them and ask how we would get out in the eventuality of...?

This was the doors by the 5 a side pitches in the basement btw.

Well I can categorically tell you that no fire doors were chained or even locked. I was on the sports staff and a duty manager in those days and part of the role was to check all fire exits at the end of the night in case anyone was hiding out in them. Also there was sensors on all the doors to let you know when they had been accessed . There was a labyrinth of corridors through lots of the fire doors . Certain sports were particularly bad for accessing through the fire doors and exiting out through them too. Promise you no doors were ever chained after its reopening. 

[Passing Time]

15 minutes ago, Numbnuts said:

Well I can categorically tell you that no fire doors were chained or even locked. I was on the sports staff and a duty manager in those days and part of the role was to check all fire exits at the end of the night in case anyone was hiding out in them. Also there was sensors on all the doors to let you know when they had been accessed . There was a labyrinth of corridors through lots of the fire doors . Certain sports were particularly bad for accessing through the fire doors and exiting out through them too. Promise you no doors were ever chained after its reopening. 

As a former staff member you would say that though wouldn't you? You can attempt to assure as much as you want but some doors were chained

[WTF]

4 minutes ago, Passing Time said:

As a former staff member you would say that though wouldn't you? You can attempt to assure as much as you want but some doors were chained

were they actually fire doors ?  just asking , i can't remember the place all that well as it was 40 years ago i used to go there, summerland sam getting pancaked was the highlight of an evening.

Edited July 13, 2023 by WTF

[Passing Time]

Just now, WTF said:

were they actually fire doors ?  just asking , i can't remember the place all that well as it was 40 years ago i use to go there, summerland sam getting pancaked was the highlight of an evening.

Yes they were firedoors 

[Numbnuts]

1 hour ago, Passing Time said:

As a former staff member you would say that though wouldn't you? You can attempt to assure as much as you want but some doors were chained

I have no loyalty to Summerland or IOM government and one thing I am not is a liar. There were only two sets of fire doors  in the sports hall. One set to the left of the old skate store and the other at the far end . There was no fire doors in the whole building ever chained in all the time I worked there on and off for 20 years. More than their life was worth to chain any. There was double doors locked in the sports hall but they weren’t fire exit doors . They were a storage area with various equipment in and were closed for safety reasons. One way in and same way out into the right hand sports hall . Anyway you have your agenda clearly but you’re wrong but that’s fine. I had friends and wife to be who was in that building the night of the fire. Was present at the event that took place in days following and remember well the nurses and fire services and other agencies entering the venue that day and fighting back tears. My job was to check that building daily when on duty. No way would I have stood for anything that was an exit being chained or locked.   

Edited July 13, 2023 by Numbnuts

[Shake me up Judy]

Locked fire doors were commonplace at the time of the Summerland disaster. If the Lido had ever gone up with thousands of people in there on a Sunday night it could've been even worse.

[A fool and his money.....]

1 hour ago, Shake me up Judy said:

Locked fire doors were commonplace at the time of the Summerland disaster. If the Lido had ever gone up with thousands of people in there on a Sunday night it could've been even worse.

They certainly never were after it was rebuilt though. There can't have been a building on the planet in which you would have been safer from fire than the new Summer land. Closing the door after the horse has bolted I agree, but lessons were learned from Summer Land, there's no doubt about that.

[A fool and his money.....]

I'm not sure what this MP hopes to achieve 50 years on. Especially as it seems his own country didn't learn the lessons of Summer Land and many of the things he's complaining about are being reinacted in the wake of Grenfell.

[Numbnuts]

6 hours ago, A fool and his money..... said:

They certainly never were after it was rebuilt though. There can't have been a building on the planet in which you would have been safer from fire than the new Summer land. Closing the door after the horse has bolted I agree, but lessons were learned from Summer Land, there's no doubt about that.

You are totally correct. Apart from measures in place including a dedicated fire officer there every day the building was actually very safe. All the masses of concrete and no frills in rebuild and unlimited fire alarms and sensors plus a management regime that meant it was incredibly safe and as good as fire proof. 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Numbnuts

[WTF]

8 hours ago, A fool and his money..... said:

I'm not sure what this MP hopes to achieve 50 years on. 

their name in media

[Roger Mexico]

15 hours ago, Gladys said:

It would be an apology from the IOM Government which, as we know, has been in continuous existence for over 1,000 years. 

Of course legally "the IOM Government" doesn't and never has existed.  There are only individual Departments, but no single legal entity.   So a formal apology might not be possible.  Which is terribly convenient.

[Gladys]

Just now, Roger Mexico said:

Of course legally "the IOM Government" doesn't and never has existed.  There are only individual Departments, but no single legal entity.   So a formal apology might not be possible.  Which is terribly convenient.

It is if you wanted a pedant's way out.  My point was that Alf is not apologising on his own behalf, despite being 5 at the time,  but obo the IOMG.  It was a facile argument. 

[Non-Believer]

5 hours ago, Numbnuts said:

You are totally correct. Apart from measures in place including a dedicated fire officer there every day the building was actually very safe. All the masses of concrete and no frills in rebuild and unlimited fire alarms and sensors plus a management regime that meant it was incredibly safe and as good as fire proof. 

And yet it was only in existence for 30-odd years before being demolished to leave the site we still have today. Still, it's a useful area for the DOI to dump their shite.

[Shake me up Judy]

It's a sorry tale and a Manx one at that. They pulled down the beautiful Derby Castle in the '60s and that's where it all went wrong. Put up Summerland which promptly burned down. Then they rebuilt a scaled down Summerland. That gets pulled down to make way for a building site. All that's left is the concrete skeleton of a tragedy. Brought to you by Douglas Corporation and IOM Government.  

[Passing Time]

15 hours ago, Numbnuts said:

I have no loyalty to Summerland or IOM government and one thing I am not is a liar. There were only two sets of fire doors  in the sports hall. One set to the left of the old skate store and the other at the far end . There was no fire doors in the whole building ever chained in all the time I worked there on and off for 20 years. More than their life was worth to chain any. There was double doors locked in the sports hall but they weren’t fire exit doors . They were a storage area with various equipment in and were closed for safety reasons. One way in and same way out into the right hand sports hall . Anyway you have your agenda clearly but you’re wrong but that’s fine. I had friends and wife to be who was in that building the night of the fire. Was present at the event that took place in days following and remember well the nurses and fire services and other agencies entering the venue that day and fighting back tears. My job was to check that building daily when on duty. No way would I have stood for anything that was an exit being chained or locked.   

I don't have am agenda. Good to know though that you seem to know exactly what I saw