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Pier to be renamed after regional daily’s 15-year fight

An historic pier is to revert to its original name after a regional daily campaign lasting more than 15 years.

The Argus, Brighton, has revealed that the 127-year-old Brighton Pier will be renamed Brighton Palace Pier.

The pier opened in 1889 as the Palace Pier but was renamed Brighton Pier in 2000.

Ever since then, both The Argus and The National Piers Society have refused to recognise the new name, continuing to refer to it as the ‘Palace Pier’.

Brighton Palace

New owner Luke Johnson has now agreed to change the official name of the attraction, as revealed on Friday’s front page, pictured above.

Argus editor Mike Gilson told HTFP: “This is the culmination of a 15 year campaign by The Argus supported by thousands of local residents.

“The newspaper continued to name the pier Palace even after the previous owners changed it. The Argus understood the affection generations of locals held for the iconic landmark and its name was an intrinsic part of that.

“Suddenly changing it seemed to be eroding a little part of our history. Now the new owner, Luke Johnson, seems to get that and we are delighted Palace is back in the name.”

Anne Martin, general manager of Brighton Palace Pier, said: “We have always recognised and been grateful for the local support for the ‘Palace’ part of the name so we decided to make the change.

“However, we feel it is important to keep the Brighton part in there as it is so important particularly with overseas advertising.

“The sign is famous worldwide and is used in many countries not only to advertise the pier but also Brighton. We want to combine the two so we are going to call it Brighton Palace Pier.”

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  • July 5, 2016 at 10:15 am
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    I like the idea of digging your heels in for tradition’s sake but it’s a bit of a soft target.
    What do they call the Brighton’s ground, Falmer Stadium or the American Express Community Stadium (or the Amex)?

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  • July 5, 2016 at 10:43 pm
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    I’m sure the 12,000 buyers of the paper couldn’t care less (probably closer to 11,000 now)

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