Lee-on-the-Solent has always been favoured by local residents for leisurely walks along the waterfront. However, it achieved a notable distinction in 1936, earning the appellation "The Monte Carlo of the English Riviera."

This designation was a direct consequence of the inauguration of a new pier pavilion, a substantial structure featuring a prominent 120-foot tower, a cinema, tea-rooms, and a restaurant.

Prior to this significant development, the area already enjoyed considerable popularity, attracting the attention of prominent individuals such as Lord Alverstone, a former Lord Chief Justice.

Lord Alverstone was quoted as saying: "The Solent is one of the loveliest pieces of water in the world; if it were in the Mediterranean, excursions would be constantly run to enable tired brains and wearied bodies to find rest in one of the fairest beauty spots in Europe."

His words reflect the high regard in which the area's natural beauty was held.

The Daily Echo offered its own assessment of Lee-on-the-Solent's progress, stating: "Those who are responsible for the development of this lovely English seaside resort have fully appreciated Lord Alverstone's remarks, and they are seeing that the once charming little village, backed by Hampshire's sweet-smelling gorse and pines, is setting an example to the whole of the east bank of this great waterway."

The Echo further described the newly constructed pavilion in detail: "At the entrance to the pier has risen a new pavilion, shaped on the lines and design of a modern battleship it is built in a new spirit of architecture, a place of entertainment and music."

This new structure replaced the original pavilion, which had been destroyed by fire some years previously.

The tower, a defining architectural element, provided a striking central feature and served as a prominent landmark, visible from any point along the town's two-mile promenade.

The construction of the new pavilion demonstrated a forward-thinking mindset for the town.

“From the observation platform, reached by a lift, although the energetic can climb the steps if they wish, enchanting views of the Solent, Spithead, and the surrounding countryside are obtainable.

“The winter garden cafe is also used for dancing, the floor is ice-like in its smoothness.

“When a band is not in attendance, the latest music is provided by means of loud-speakers, which have been neatly incorporated in the decorative scheme.

“In the evenings, or when it is really too hot out of doors, there is the cinema, which has the latest type of ventilation and a seating capacity for 1,000.”

The Daily Echo told its readers that bathing off the long pebble beach was “safe enough” but nearby was a “magnificent” open-air swimming pool.

“There you can bathe on the front under the blue sky, and half the night, under the yellow beams of the moon and floodlighting,” said the Daily Echo.

“Lee-on-the-Solent is gay, spacious, and above all, modern, while the motorist has the whole panorama of south England, with Solent’s Monte Carlo as his base.”

However one guide was not so flattering about the new complex, saying: “a good piece of second-rate inter-war modernism of the slightly jazzy sort, constructed of concrete when concrete seemed very up-to-date”.

During the Second World War the tower and pavilion was taken over by the military, and then, in the 1960s the building was revamped with the cinema becoming a bowling alley.

As other forms of entertainment grew in popularity the decision was taken in 1971 to demolish the structure.