Lancaster Square Routes
Market Square
Revitalising historic places and routes in Lancaster City Centre
Lancaster Square Routes aims to rejuvenate the important historic city centre of Lancaster, strengthening its position as a quality destination both for visitors and residents of the district.
LATEST NEWS: Available in our January / February newsletter.
Why are we doing this?
Lancaster Lore and Legends
Lancaster’s public spaces are intrinsic elements of the city’s historic fabric. Unfortunately, few of the public spaces are of such a quality that people want to linger and use them as places for rest, recreation and social interaction.
Andrew Dobson, Head of the Regeneration and Policy Service, said: “Lancaster City Centre has a long enviable history and is a major source of employment and tourism.
“Unfortunately, over the years, the centre has deteriorated and we are now faced with a situation where the condition of the streets is poor and cluttered, which does not do enough to showcase its assets.
Georgian Gem
“Lancaster Square Routes aims to rejuvenate one of the north west’s most important historical city centres and strengthen its position as a major destination both for visitors and residents of the district.”
It is now accepted that investing in quality public spaces generates economic benefits; it enhances visitor experiences, stimulates growth in the visitor economy, raises property values and helps to increase income and profit for local business.
How are we doing this?
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) awarded money to the council in late 2008 to prepare detailed design proposals to upgrade a number of spaces within the city centre, including Market Square, Sun Street and the Castle area.
Public Consultation May 2009
Lancashire County Council also awarded money to support the involvement of an artist throughout the project.
The council sought comments from all users of these spaces, including residents, visitors and traders to help analyse and evaluate the current issues and potential opportunities.
Subsequently a design framework was produced by the council to inform external consultants in producing outline design options for each space.
External design consultants, Gillespies were appointed to lead on preparing exciting and innovative design options for some of Lancaster’s key spaces.
Artists and architects Amenity Space worked alongside Gillespies to enhance these proposals.
Consultation
Sun Square
A public consultation was held on the concept design options on 20th, 21st, 27th, 28th and 30th May 2009 in Market Square Lancaster 10am -5pm (10am-7pm on Thursday 28th May). The draft design boards used during the consultation are still available to view. Download them from the right hand menu - 'May 2009 Public Consultation Boards'.
The consultation was also aided by material produced by Amenity Space:
Listen to the Podwalk: The podwalk produced is available to listen to or download at:
http://amenityspace.podbean.com/2009/05/19/lancaster-square-routes/
City Park
This will take you on a journey around Lancaster visiting all the spaces we are aiming to improve. The podcast has an option to download it also so it can be put on i-Pods / Phones etc and you can follow the route whilst listening. It starts in Gage Street and finishes on the Quay.
Watch the video: Amenity Space have also created a video which looks at the spaces as they currently are and how the proposals have been developed so far. The video can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6WgCc1aICE
The concept proposals
The proposals are based on 'Three Big Ideas': Lancaster Lore and Legends, Georgian Gem and City Park.
Lancaster Lore and Legends
- Embrace Lancaster’s rich history and heritage from Roman to Georgian, highwaymen to witches!
- Use the new public realm and art commissions to tell the lost tales of Lancaster to create a truly unique and vibrant city centre
- Create a city trail that will improve legibility and wayfinding, encourage people to explore the city and enhance the tourist offer
- Use public art to engage the community, encourage interaction with the City’s past, present and future and provide educational opportunities
Georgian Gem
- Enhance the setting of historic buildings and landmarks through high quality public
realm
- Deliver classic, timeless designs that will stand the test of time
- Combine new and old, with contemporary architectural interventions of the highest
quality
- Build upon the city’s history, heritage & local distinctiveness by using locally sourced
materials, traditions and craftsmanship
- Create spaces that promote cultural activities – art/music/literature and outdoor
performance and places for restaurants/cafes and evening activities
- Embrace the city’s market by creating places for it to thrive
City Park
- Create a new City Park - a flagship greenspace for Lancaster
- Build upon the city’s cycleways, walkways and natural resources - rivers, coast and country
- Use locally sourced, sustainable materials and groundbreaking new technology
- Encourage the whole community to get involved and take ownership of the park
- ‘Green’ the city centre by introducing trees, lawn and innovative planting in key spaces
View the design boards
Following the public consultation and further stakeholder engagement, the final design boards were produced in Summer 2010. These can be downloaded on the right hand side of this page.
What is happening now?
The detailed designs were approved by the council's Cabinet in October 2010. The initiative is now identified as a means of achieving the 'Economic Regeneration' of the district, one of the council's corporate priorities (2011-2014).
The visions constitute a programme of work that can be delivered over time as opportunities and funding permits. Each location proposed for improvement makes for an individual project that in turn can be disaggregated into work packages. By this means the council can gear implementation to the availability of funding, the primary constraint on delivery.
March 2011
Officers are currently looking at options to bring the projects forward in light of the council's commitment to provide £220,000 in 2011/12 in support of this initiative.
April 2011
Funds are in place to start to deliver the first two projects under the Square Routes umbrella, Market Square and Ffrances Passage. We hope to make some progress on these this year. Due to funding restraints, the Market Square project is likely to be delivered in phases.
A vision has been developed for Sun Square and we will be looking at options to bring that forward.
July 2011
A first phase of works to Market Square is planned for this autumn, commencing early October and completing mid-November ahead of the Christmas period.
A first phase of works to Ffrances Passage is planned for early in the new year.
August 2011
A newsletter has been produced to explain the proposed works. Download the newsletter here. The works will be confirmed in September via a further newsletter update.
September 2011
Further information on works to Market Square is available. Download the newsletter here.
October 2011
Work is underway. Download the latest newsletter here
December 2011
Work in Market Square took a break over the Christmas period but ended with the Christmas lights switch on event. See press release and the December newsletter.
January 2012
Please see our latest press release.
February 2012
The completion of the first phase of works in Market Square is now approaching and work will soon commence in Ffrances Passage. More information can be found in our January / February newsletter.
Getting involved
If you would like to be kept up to date with the project:
Email us at: squareroutes@lancaster.gov.uk
We welcome contributions from members of the public and local businesses. If you have any suggestions or comments, we will be more than happy to talk to you. Please use the contact details below to get in touch with us.