DESIGNS for a new walkway that would link Leicester’s Green Dragon Square with St Martin’s Square, and complete the route from Town Hall Square, have been revealed by the city council.
The landscaped link would also provide a substantial new, green, open space in the city centre, which would include new trees to provide shade, bee-friendly shrubs, sensory planting and grassed areas.
Children’s adventure play equipment made of natural materials would be a key feature of the new space, increasing opportunities for play in the city centre. And paved areas would provide an opportunity for temporary street food vendors to be located there.
Council-owned buildings running from 12-to 20 Cank Street would be demolished to make way for the new link.
Leicester City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “This new scheme gives us a wonderful opportunity to complete the link from Town Hall Square through to St Martin’s Square and towards Leicester’s Old Town. It is also going to bring more much-needed green space to the heart of the city centre, as well as a place for families to rest and play.”
The cost of the demolition, constructing new gable end walls to support the retained buildings, and creating the new landscaped walkway will be around £3.5m. Just over £1m will come from the Government funded local transport works improvement programme, with the remainder coming from funding allocated to an earlier scheme.
Subject to planning permission being obtained and a formal decision being made on the project, work could begin in November, with the full scheme expected to take around 12 months to complete.