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 bought an abandoned building on the seafront in Margate, Kent and plans to convert it into a community centre.

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

It is not the first time that Tracey has supported Margate – where she grew up and now lives – as she previously set up an art school in the seaside town.

Thanet District Council confirmed that it had signed a sales agreement with Tracey following a competitive tender process. The sales price for the building has not been shared.

The building is currently vacant apart from an area occupied by Thanet Lifeguard Club, which the tenant says will remain a tenant. BBC.

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

Tracey told Kent Online: “I am so happy and excited. Margate will have a swimming club that we can use all year round.

‘It will take a few years before it is renovated and operational, I want to make it beautiful and grand again.’

It is believed that the Westbrook Loggia, also known as the Westbrook Bay Pavilion, was built 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 raised more than £9,000, to local music venue Elsewhere in The Center in an attempt to save it from closure as it struggled to keep up with rising utility bills.

Plans for an Olympic-level skate park in Cliftonville have also gained her support.

Previously, Tracey spoke about supporting the skatepark: ‘People say it’s a waste of money, but I say it’s not. We will practice an Olympic sport here. Margate is a very different place now.

‘The old Margate is 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 signed a sales agreement with Tracey following a competitive tender process. The sales price for the building has not been shared

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

Tracey said, ‘I thought when I got back to Margate I’d have a ghost or be depressed.

“But what I discovered was the opposite: It felt like 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 that also houses her studio, continued: ‘I just love it here, it’s so relaxing.

‘I like the people, I like the weather, I like the waves – it will rain everywhere but not in Margate.

“Margate has been a dumping ground for poverty, but it will be better for everyone if poverty comes back to life.

‘Whether you are rich or poor, it is better to walk through beautiful surroundings. What do people want? Do they want it covered in dog shit and boarded up?

‘It has the potential to be the European city of culture, that’s what I strive for.’

It comes after Tracey revealed she nearly died recently after contracting Covid and talked about how she was recovering at her home in France.

On Instagram, she wrote earlier this month: “This is where I am… in my home and studio in France. I love it here, it is very magical in the true sense of the word. Normally I’m always here painting, but this time I’m recovering from Covid.

‘I can’t believe how sick I was, at one point I even thought I was going to die!

Difficult: It comes after Tracey revealed she recently nearly died after contracting Covid – almost a year after she got the all-clear following her battle with bladder cancer

“They say there is a new variant, more deadly than before. F**k know. All I know is that I have to be very careful. Life is too good to say goodbye.’

It came almost a year after she finally got it all clear after her battle with bladder cancer in September 2022.

She originally discovered she had a tumor in her bladder in June 2020 and was suffering from very aggressive squamous cell cancer, which surgeons feared would kill her within months if the disease spread to her lymph nodes.

Tracey underwent surgery to remove many of her reproductive organs, parts of her intestines and lymph nodes and also received an ostomy bag.