Tracey Emin buys a derelict seafront building in Margate with plans to transform it into a community hub complete with an art studio and gym

Tracey Emin has purchased a derelict seafront building in Margate, Kent, and plans to transform it into a community hub.

The artist, 60, is planning to convert the Westbrook Loggia into a local attraction complete with a community bathers’ club, a large art studio, gym and restaurant.

It is not the first time Tracey has given her support to Margate – where she grew up and now resides – as she previously set up an art school in the seaside town.

Thanet District Council confirmed that it had agreed a sale with Tracey after a competitive tendering process. The sale price for the building has not been shared.

The building is currently unoccupied apart from an area which is occupied by Thanet Lifeguard Club, which will remain as a tenant, according to the BBC.

New venture: Tracey Emin has purchased a derelict seafront building in Margate, Kent, and plans to transform it into a community hub

Big plans: The artist, 60, is planning to convert the Westbrook Loggia into a local attraction complete with a community bathers’ club, a large art studio, gym and restaurant

Of her new venture, Tracey told KentOnline: ‘I’m so happy and excited. Margate is going to have a bathers club that we can use all year round.

‘It will take a couple of years to get it renovated and up and running, I want to make it beautiful and grand again.’

It is thought that the Westbrook Loggia, also known as the Westbrook Bay Pavilion, was constructed in 1910. 

Tracey grew up in Margate and has done a lot for the community, having previously set up an art school there.

She also donated one of her pieces, which fetched more than £9,000, to local music venue Elsewhere in The Centre in a bid to save it from closure as it struggled keep pace with soaring energy bills.

Plans for an Olympic-standard skate park in Cliftonville have also received her backing.

Previously speaking of backing the skate park, Tracey said: ‘People say it’s a waste of money, but I say it’s not. We will have an Olympic sport here. Margate’s a complete different place now.

‘The old Margate has gone, but a new one has come. It’s very exciting to be here now. I’m also very different – it’s like a whole new beginning.’

Sold! Thanet District Council confirmed that it had agreed a sale with Tracey after a competitive tendering process. The sale price for the building has not been shared

Tracey has nothing but praise for Margate – despite her misgivings about returning in 2017 to live in the resort where she was raped when she was just a 13-year-old schoolgirl.

Tracey said: ‘I thought when I came back to Margate that I’d have a ghost or be depressed.

‘But what I found was the complete opposite – it felt like a triumph coming back. Things can change and move on and get better.’

The town’s most famous resident, who lives in an old converted stable block which also houses her studio, continued: ‘I just love it here – it’s so relaxing.

‘I love the people, I love the weather, I love the waves – it will be raining everywhere, but not in Margate.

‘Margate has been a dumping ground for poverty, but it’s going to be better for everyone if it’s regenerated.

‘Whether you’re rich or poor it’s better to walk through a nice area. What do people want? Do they want it covered in dog s*** and boarded up?

‘It has the potential to be the European town of culture – that’s what I’m aiming for.’

It comes after Tracey revealed she nearly died recently after contracting Covid and told how she has been recovering at her house in France.

On Instagram earlier this month, she penned: ‘This is where I am.. at my house and studio in France. I love it here, it’s very magical in the true sense of the word. Usually I’m always painting here but this time I’m recovering from having Covid.

‘I can’t believe how ill I was, at one point, I actually thought I might die!

Tough: It comes after Tracey revealed she nearly died recently after contracting Covid – nearly a year after she received the all-clear after her bladder cancer battle 

‘They say there is a new variant, more deadly than before. F**k knows .. all I know is I have to be very careful. Life is too beautiful to say goodbye.’

It came nearly a year after she finally received the ‘all clear’ after her battle against bladder cancer in September 2022. 

She originally found she had a tumour in her bladder in June 2020 and was suffering with very aggressive squamous cell cancer, which surgeons feared would kill her in months if it spread to her lymph nodes. 

Tracey underwent surgery to remove many of her reproductive organs, parts of her intestines and lymph nodes as well as being fitted with a stoma bag.

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