Gloucester City Council has announced its plans to transform the area around Eastgate Shopping Centre into Greyfriars Quarter, a vibrant and new green area of the city. For this ambitious scheme, the council has placed a bid for £12.5 million of Levelling Up Funding.
“This additional opportunity is a clear statement of intent by the government to help restore our city centres into great places to live in and visit. It’s a great opportunity for us in Gloucester to to re-imagine the Eastgate Market, re-roof and re-use Greyfriars creatively and bring both the Greyfriars Bowling Club and Addison’s Folly back to life and public use, for the first time in a generation,” said Gloucester MP Richard Graham.
“Our bid will turn this under appreciated corner of Gloucester into something to be proud of, for residents and visitors, with economic, job, health and environmental benefits. It cannot start early enough – and I will be doing all I can to persuade the government of this bid’s merits.”
If successful, the grounds around the 13th century Greyfriars monastery would be transformed. Part of the shopping centre, including the market hall, would be refurbished and repurposed, while new spaces for community activities, a park and gardens, and a new market and foodhall, would be constructed.
The market hall, which would benefit from a contemporary new design that involves a landscaped courtyard garden, would be relocated to another part of the Eastgate Shopping centre. The current market hall would be revamped to house a multi-purpose performance space for dance, music, fitness, cinema, community and leisure events, and it would be linked to a unique covered outdoor space with an orangery and outdoor dining area within the remains of the beautiful Greyfriars Monastery.
Moreover, the plans for the new Greyfriars Quarter include a proposal to create serviced apartments, providing a unique place to stay and the creation of flexible workspaces within the refurbished 18th century house adjacent to the friary. A new urban park, outdoor gym, play area and cycle hub are also part of the exciting scheme supported by MP Richard Graham.
“The Greyfriars Quarter would continue the council’s commitment to regenerate Gloucester’s city centre and would complement the multi-million pound regeneration projects already taking place across the city. Greyfriars is designed to bring the community back into the heart of the city while making the most of our beautiful heritage with a thoroughly modern design,” commented Councillor Richard Cook, Leader of Gloucester City Council.
The bid follows the council’s previous successful bid to the Government’s Levelling Up fund last year, which saw it successfully winning £20 million. It is in addition to the £1.5 million UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation to the city, which will be primarily used to support communities and places around the wider city area.
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