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LIVERPOOL'S main shopping street is to receive a £6m facelift, the ECHO can reveal.
Church Street will be given new paving, lighting and futuristic metal sculptures to bring it into the 21st century.
City leaders fear the pedestrianised route will be over-shadowed by the new Grosvenor shopping centre off Paradise Street when it opens in 2007.
I like the sound of the twisted metal ribbon that weaves in and out of the pavement,It really needs this makeover.
THE face of Liverpool's main shopping street was significantly altered yesterday with the chopping down of a number of 30-year-old trees to pave the way for a £5.5m transformation project.
Officials promised that the axed trees in Church Street and Lord Street will be replaced with new mature trees as part of the work.
Work will start in mid-May. The main aim of the scheme is to improve the pedestrian areas with new high quality granite paving, new street lighting, new benches and litter bins and tree planting.
The concept for the scheme is "The Ribbons of Life", representing the social, cultural and economic aspects of Liverpool and its people.
That ribbon theme will be visible in the paving and the street furniture. Sculptures will also reflect this idea.
Preparation work began at the weekend with the removal of the existing trees due to public safety issues and problems with damage from the tree roots. These will be replaced with 33 new mature trees, all nine metres high.
A city council spokeswoman said last night: "The trees had to be removed before the main work begins. The Trees and Woodland management team of the city council carried out a full assessment of the trees' condition.
"Planted in the 1970s, they have proved unsuitable trees for this location and due to their current poor condition there is a risk of branches falling off on to passing pedestrians. The work was carried out on Sunday morning to minimise disruption for retailers, shoppers and businesses.
"We are really upset about the loss of the trees, but they were originally planted in poor conditions.
"This is an opportunity to create a fantastic long term new planting scheme with over 30 mature trees being planted. All the trees removed will be chipped and recycled."
Carl Speight, general manager of the Business Improvement District, said: "This scheme will help to complement the nearby Paradise Project and ensure our prime retail area remains an important part of the city centre.
"There has been extensive consultation with retailers and businesses and we will continue to do all we can to work with the council to ensure any disruption is kept to a minimum."
"It is a very exciting scheme that will bring this vital area up to date and make it an enjoyable and pleasant place to work, to
shop and to visit." The project on Church Street and Lord Street is part of the City Centre Movement Strategy, a £73m scheme to improve roads and public areas of Liverpool city centre, implemented by partners Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision, and Merseytravel.
The £5.5m scheme has been funded by the council, the NorthWest Development Agency, the European Regional Development Fund, and Cityfocus.
larryneild@dailypost.co.uk
The pavements in these areas have been a disgrace for years and the new granite replacements will be welcomed,and the new "ribbon of life" sculpture looks interesting,I can't wait to see this properly.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...14_tree203.jpg
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...4016_tree2.jpg
It should be nice - the state of it is awful considering how the paradise street development will set new standards for city centre shopping. Church street is very busy though.
I like the stones they laid around mathew street, look very cool, not ur avarage block paving :unibrow:
Them pictures sort of give you an insight to what the ribbon of life will look like but it's a shame it's not a bigger clearer picture.Hopefully though we wont have to wait too long to see the real thing.:)
THE statue of Liverpool's best-known business brothers, Sir John and Cecil Moores, is to be moved to a new home this week.
The bronze memorial to the founders of the Littlewoods empire is to be switched from city centre Church Street to Old Hall Street in the business quarter before work starts to improve Church Street and Lord Street as part of the £73m City Centre Movement Strategy.
The Moores statue, designed by Tom Murphy, was unveiled in 1996 outside Littlewoods' flagship store, which recently closed.
It was commissioned by Littlewoods to mark the centenary of Sir John Moores's birth.
Tomorrow, the sculpture will be hoisted on to a crane to be moved to its new location outside the former Littlewoods head office at 100 Old Hall Street, now renamed by its new owners as The Plaza.
Cllr Mike Storey, the city council's executive member for Special Initiatives, said last night: "There is an enormous amount of work which is taking place and due to take place in Church Street. It will make the main retail area a far more welcoming and attractive place to visit.
"However, clearly this statue cannot stay in place while the work is taking place. It has to be moved to avoid any damage and to allow the work to go unimpeded.
"We thought about putting it in storage, and then putting it back in Church Street, but the reason why it is in its current location has disappeared with the closure of the Littlewoods shop. It is far more appropriate that it moves to somewhere with a link to Littlewoods and the Moores family, and Old Hall Street is the ideal place."
Eventually, the second piece of art work in Church Street, the so-called "Rope Horse" close to Bold Street, will also have to be moved. It has yet to be decided whether to move that work or return it when the improvements are finished.
Work on Church Street and Lord Street will cost £5.5m and has been funded by Liverpool council, the NorthWest Development Agency, the European Regional Development Fund, and Cityfocus.
It will provide new, high quality granite paving, new street lighting, new benches and litter bins and tree planting.
It is based on The Ribbons of Life - representing the social, cultural and economic aspects of Liverpool and its people.
The ribbon theme will be visible in the paving and the street furniture.
Sculptural elements will also reflect this theme.
larryneild@dailypost.co.uk
THE facelift of Liverpool city centre’s main shopping streets enters a new phase on Monday when work starts on the transformation of Whitechapel.
A tree-lined pedestrian boulevard will replace the current street scene.
The upgrade of Whitechapel and adjoining Stanley Street will cost £1.5m and is part of the much bigger £73m City Centre Movement Strategy.
The strategy is a project backed by Liverpool City Council, Merseytravel, and Liverpool Vision to improve the roads and public areas of the city centre, in what is the biggest ever programme of street works.
Work is already underway on upgrading Church Street and Lord Street with a £5.5m project, running on time and on budget, and this is being extended to include part of Whitechapel and Stanley Street. Both schemes are due to be completed by this summer. continues....