Largs Community Council calls on people to back Vikingar

The call comes from members of Largs Community Council (LCC), who also want the centre's operators, KA Leisure, to bring back the attraction's "wonderful" cafe.

The chief executive of Vikingar! is to be invited to attend a future meeting of LCC to outline the centre's future plans.

The award-winning centre includes the Largs Viking Experience and also encompasses the original Barrfields Theatre, built in 1930.

The complex also includes a four-lane, 25-metre swimming pool, which was opened in 1971, and the Vallhalladrome, as well as a state-of-the-art gym, soft ball play area and sauna facilities.

LCC chairman Jim Phillips told the group's January meeting: "I feel what is missing from the Vikingar! is the cafe. They are missing a chance to bring in customers.

"As a result, we have decided to invite the CEO to our March meeting to find out what their plans are going forward.

"You have to speculate to accumulate and they are missing a big opportunity of having backsides on seats if they have the cafe open.

"People go for various things, such as swimming and keep fit and they come out for a coffee or a tea and it is an opportunity wasted."

Colleague Wendy Low Thomson agreed and said: "It was a wonderful cafe, and you could spend all day in the Vikingar!"

The tourist attraction was built at a cost of £4.2 million in 1995 thanks to combination of European Regional development funding, Enterprise Ayrshire and council funds.

Largs Community Council (Image: Newsquest)

LCC member Jamie Black said: "I got a tour and there were facilities in the Vikingar! I didn't know were there.

"It is a really great asset. And because of the climate we are in, we don't want it to be one of the places that they can say 'can we chop it?'.

"I think it would be great to invite the CEO down and say 'what are your plans for it?' to show we care about it, and see what we can do, because we are behind it."

Wendy Low Thomson concurred, and said: "It is one of the most under used assets in the town. It could be so much more and there are so many ideas for it."

North Coast councillor Ian Murdoch told the meeting: "Many years ago Largs Community Council were part of a consultation for a feasibility study which was done for the Vikingar!, and in that process I suggested keeping the cafe open.

"One of the ways of doing that was to put in a large soft play from the main entrance all the way to the end of the foyer door, and get rid of one of the receptions, as we have two currently. 

"It is a huge space and crying out for a soft play. That would have made the cafe busy, and made the building busy.

"There were many other suggestions about how to make Vikingar! and Barrfields a community hub, but that feasibility study never saw the light of day."

Mr Black told the News that he had visited the multi-ball interactive facility which replaced the centre's soft ball play area in 2022 at a cost of £20,000.

It is an interactive game zone built to encourage physical activity, and the world’s first mixed reality sports gaming platform, combining real-life physical activity with gaming, using touch-sensitive projections.

Mr Black said: "Some of the community council members were there on a recent visit and it was fantastic.

"When staff showed me the multi-ball, I was amazed. There are lots of different games to suit everyone - and all indoors.

"I'd encourage everyone to give it a try. It's good exercise and it suits all abilities and is certainly one way of keeping kids amused on dark winter nights.

"There are lots of great opportunities at the Vikingar! and it is important that people support the facility."

KA Leisure is the trading name of North Ayrshire Leisure Limited, the arm's-length organisation with charitable status that runs leisure facilities across the area formerly operated by North Ayrshire Council.

All KA Leisure facilities are owned by the council but leased to the arm's length operator, with any surpluses generated reinvested into improving facilities and services.

The Vikingar! centre was opened by TV personality Carol Smilie in 1995, when it was hailed as a 'Disneyworld' quality attraction.

Its 25th anniversary in the summer of 2020 was marked by the release of an online video compiled by North Ayrshire Heritage and Cultural Services, as the centre itself was closed at the time because of Covid restrictions.