BUILDING work on a long-awaited Exmouth seafront visitor attraction could be completed by the autumn, halting three years of delays.

BUILDING work on a long-awaited Exmouth seafront visitor attraction could be completed by the autumn, halting three years of delays.

Work on the seafront bowling alley began in February 2008, with the aim of completing the modern, glass-fronted, three-storey development by early 2009.

Work has been sporadic since November 2008 - and, finally, ground to a halt in 2010, following a number of setbacks.

Mark Quinn, of Harlequinns Leisure, this week told the Journal work was to resume within the next few weeks.

However, he said a confidentiality clause prevented him explaining the cause of the delay.

Mr Quinn said he had visited the site this week with a contractor with the aim of drawing up a building schedule.

Although unable to give any precise completion date, Mr Quinn hoped the bowling alley would be finished by autumn 2011.

He said the visitor attraction should be open well before the summer season of 2012.

Mr Quinn said he was keen to share his proposed work time-scale once the building schedule had been finalised.

He said: “We are in a position where we can carry on. We have been back on site and we are putting together a programme to get the work completed.

“We don’t know when it will be completed, or anything about timing at the moment. “

When work first began on the site of the old swimming pool, Mr Quinn said the development would be a ‘landmark building’ and a ‘fantastic leisure facility’.

The eco-friendly design spent six years on the drawing board before work began.

Mr Quinn said the completed development promised a host of attractions.

These included bowling lanes, three restaurants, a trio of small shops, an under-12s’ play zone, a climbing wall and a number of function rooms, including one for large wedding parties and three small rooms for children’s parties.