page_title: Hastings Pier
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Hastings Pier / History
caption_attribution_description: Print no. &#34;10052&#34;.; More information about the Photochrom Print Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.pgz; Title from the Detroit Publishing Co., Catalogue J-foreign section, Detroit, Mich.&#160;: Detroit Publishing Company, 1905.; Forms part of: Views of the British Isles, in the Photochrom print collection.
context_page_description: Hastings Pier is a public pleasure pier in Hastings, East Sussex, England. Built in 1872 and enjoying its prime in the 1930s, it became a popular music venue in the 1960s. The structure suffered major storm damage in 1990, and was closed to the public for a time before closing completely in 2008, and 95% destroyed by a fire in 2010. Hastings Pier Charity oversaw a rebuilding project, with the pier reopening on 27 April 2016. The redeveloped pier won the 2017 Stirling Prize for architecture.
  The charity went into administration in 2017 and the pier was sold to a private buyer in 2018. The pier re-opened on 1 April 2019.
context_section_description: The pier was opened on 5 August 1872 by the then Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Earl of Granville. It was designed by Eugenius Birch, who also designed the West Pier, Brighton and Eastbourne Pier, both west of Hastings, and it is often seen as an innovative design considering the technical constraints of the late Victorian period. The pier was "constructed by a local company", while the contractors were the firm R Laidlaw & Son, Glasgow. 600 guests sat down to lunch on the pier immediately following the opening ceremony, and included the local member of parliament Thomas Brassey and Egyptian princes.
  The original 2,000 seater pavilion was destroyed by fire in 1917. This was eventually replaced in 1922 and played host in the 1960s and the 1970s to notable artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Genesis, Tom Jones, Ten Years After, and Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett played his last ever show with the band here on 20 January 1968.
  During the 1930s, the pavilion extension buildings received an art deco facelift and a theatre rebuild.  This was to be its prime era. More renovation followed its temporary closure during WWII and in 1966 it housed the Hastings Embroidery during the 900th anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Hastings. 
  Elements of the pier became listed in 1976 and subsequently changed hands on a regular basis with erratic structural renovation input from its subsequent owners.
  In 1990 it suffered considerable storm damage, requiring a £1 million refurbishment. In 1996 it was put up for sale, but the future of the pier was put in grave doubt as interested buyers were reluctant to invest due to the serious amount of capital needed to improve the unstable structural supports. Financial losses led to the appointment of liquidators Leonard Curtis who closed the pier in 1999.
  The pier was eventually sold in 2000 and reopened under new ownership in 2002.  It was passed to Ravenclaw, an offshore enterprise in 2004.
caption: An early view of the pier
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