The concrete is being poured and the frames have gone up for a new museum that will mark Pendine’s starring role in motoring history.
The contractors are ploughing ahead with the new Sands of Speed Museum on the Carmathenshire village’s seafront.
It is anticipated that the £7m project, which includes a 42-bed hostel, will attract more visitors to the area and it is hoped it will deliver an additional economic boost to the regional economy of £3.3million a year. The new venue will also include an area for beach games and a children’s adventure playground.
A drop-off area for coaches will be created and the existing car park reconfigured.
Carmarthenshire Council, which is leading the development - known as the Pendine Attractor Project - is contributing £2.5 million. The remainder is coming from the European Union (£3 million) and Welsh Government (£1.5 million).
The council bought and demolished a bungalow to create better access to the new-look site, which is expected to welcome its first visitors in the latter half of 2020.
The project is looking to build on the council’s efforts over the past nine years to improve the Pendine area, including enhanced gateways, a new £800k promenade, and investment in commercial property, including the £1m Parry Thomas Centre.
The Pendine Attractor Project contract to build the venue was won by the Llanelli-headquartered WRW Construction.
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The museum itself will have a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) certificate of the classification very good, and the 42-bed resort will be built to be awarded a Passivhaus Certification, which will include a range of innovative features to reduce the impact on the environment.
The external areas, which include an 82 space carpark, outdoor events area and exhibition esplanade, adventure playground and events storage building.
The seven-mile Pendine Sands is part of motoring folklore - specifically the land speed records in the 1920s by Malcolm Campbell and Welshman John Parry-Thomas, who died during an attempt in 1927.
It still plays host to land speed events and is regularly used by production companies.
The museum and hostel will sit alongside the seafront Parry Thomas Centre, which has commercial units and first floor takeaway restaurant.
One of the units at the Parry Thomas Centre will be home to E-Type Jaguar specialists Lanes Cars Workshops Ltd, which is an agent of RBW Electric Classic Cars.
Speaking earlier this year, council leader Emlyn Dole said: “This is an exciting scheme which will put Pendine front and centre as a major holiday destination, further strengthening the economy of the area and providing much-needed jobs.”
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Pendine Community Council’s clerk Chris Delaney said: “The new museum and the whole development is important for this community not only to celebrate our exciting motoring heritage, but also to provide an attraction and facilities.”
The museum was given the greenlight in October last year after Carmarthenshire’s planning committee unanimously approved the application.
Llansteffan councillor Carys Jones expressed concern at the time that the existing Museum of Speed - which has since been demolished - was only built in the 1990s.
A council officer said sunlight entering the current museum, which was closed in the autumn and winter, “has the potential to tarnish the paintwork of the exhibits”.
The museum opened in 1996 and cost £420,000 to build. Funding was provided by Carmarthen District Council and Pendine Community Council, with grant aid from Europe.
The officer said: “It’s of a design, and of a time. It’s not necessarily that fit for the purpose.”
Describing the new Sands of Speed museum building, the officer said: “It’s quite modernistic – a tapered roof, and quite a wide footprint.”
The design, he added, addressed the direct sunlight issue and also provided more flexible exhibition space.
It has been a busy summer for Gayle Bosier, whose Marsh Stores business is down the road from the development, and she expects footfall to increase when the museum and hostel open.
“I can’t see it from my back garden – they’ve got all the scaffolding up,” she said.
“As a shop (owner) I’m excited. It will bring a lot more people to the area.”
A member of staff at Beach Shack Gift Shop said: “We can’t wait for it to be done. They’re cracking on with it.
“It’s going to add so much to Pendine.”