Economy of Weymouth

hundred events held throughout the year in the borough, including firework festivals, dragon boat racing, beach volleyball, handball and motocross, and the annual carnival in mid-August, which attracts around 70,000 people each year. Weymouth is the only port in the world to have hosted the start of The Tall Ships' Races three times—in 1983, 1987 and 1994; the 1994 race attracting 300,000 spectators.

The Pavilion Theatre was built in 1960 on a peninsula of reclaimed land between the harbour and the esplanade, after the Ritz Theatre was destroyed by fire in 1954. The Pavilion is owned and operated by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, providing a venue for local community groups and schools, and hosting seasonal 'end-of-the-pier' entertainment and year-round shows and events. It was announced in 2006 that the Pavilion complex and 4 hectares (10 acres) of its surroundings would be entirely redeveloped from 2008 to 2011, in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The complex is to include a refurbished theatre, a World Heritage Site visitors' centre, a new ferry terminal, a 140 bed 4-star hotel, an underground car park, a shopping arcade, offices, around 340 luxury apartments, 110 affordable homes, public squares, promenades, and a 290-berth marina. Delays to the project mean it is now unlikely to be completed in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

As part of the regeneration of Weymouth and Portland, it was decided in 2007 that Weymouth's esplanade will be redeveloped in time for the 2012 Olympic Games. Planned improvements include a public square around the restored statue of King George III, the restoration and extension the Art Deco pier bandstand, a Tourist information centre and café, Victorian-style shelters and seasonal kiosks, a beach rescue centre, and a sand art pavilion for the sculptures of Mark Anderson. Other alterations to