WEYMOUTH’S familiar skyline is changing as a landmark building takes shape.

Engineers are ahead of schedule on work to construct the Weymouth Tower, a new waterfront tourist attraction which will give people a bird’s eye view of the resort and the Jurassic Coast.

Work is progressing at such a rate that it could be ready before its scheduled opening date of July 1.

The tower is a £3.5m project by Merlin Entertainments Group which owns a host of top attractions including Sea Life centres and the London Eye.

It is being built on the Pleasure Pier, which has been renamed the Festival Pier for the Olympics.

While heralding progress on the Weymouth Tower as good news for the town, bosses have been quick to dismiss any links between the excavation work for the structure and the crumbling harbour walls on the other side of the quay.

Cracks began to emerge around the ferry berth last month and the damage is so severe that Condor Ferries has had to switch its cross-Channel services to Poole while the berth is redeveloped.

“It’s totally unrelated,” said Craig Dunkerley, general manager of Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park, who is also responsible for the Weymouth Tower.

He added: “Independent assessors have looked at it and they’ve found it’s not related in any way shape or form.”

Mr Dunkerely said he would echo the concerns of others in that losing the ferry service would not be good for local business and the town in general.

The tower will stand at 53 metres and its total weight will be 130 tonnes.

The fifth section of the tower’s central column was slotted into place yesterday and the engine room is expected to be fitted on top of the column by the end of this week.

Mr Dunkerely said testing of the observation pod, which will revolve around the central column, should begin next month.

He said: “We’re very much ahead of schedule thanks to the good weather; it might even be ready earlier than July.

“There’s been lots of interest. We’ve been getting lots of phone calls and groups of people have been up at the pier taking photographs.

“You can conceive an idea like this and plan it out but when you finally start seeing how spectacular it will look on the landscape it’s really exciting.”

A total of 70 passengers will be able to go up in the observation pod at a time. The cost of the ride has not yet been released but Mr Dunkerely said people will be “pleasantly surprised” by the price.

It is estimated the attraction will boost the local economy by up to £1m a year.

Weymouth woman Raquel Cubillo has been appointed marketing manager for the tower.