Engineer

The foundation stone was laid in June 1897, the whole town celebrating the ceremony, which the chief feature of the local celebrations of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.

The scepticism of local councillors proved fully justified. A combination of legal wrangles and bad weather dogged the project from the start, although the "lamentable lack of energy" of the workforce was the chief culprit for the horrendous delays and Mr. Everett was largely blamed for this. So bad was the situation that was even a suggestion that the workforce be placed under military supervision. The Council invoked penalty clauses, withheld monthly payments and even set up a Committee For the Acceleration of Works. In 1899 the Scarborough Council obtained a three year extension for completion and in 1890 Mr. Everett resigned under the wave of criticism.