Council's culture plan to avert town centre 'doom'
The plans see existing buildings converted for new uses as well as new construction
At a glance
The £210m regeneration plans include a new library, event space and art gallery, with a food hall and an urban park
It is part of the Huddersfield Blueprint which aims to regenerate six parts of the town
The council is financing the project, described as a "huge" but "thoughtful" risk
Work is expected to start in The Piazza Centre area from 2026
- Published
A new library, event space and art gallery will form a West Yorkshire town's "cultural heart" in a planned £210m development.
The Huddersfield Blueprint, which was first proposed in 2019, is expected to start taking shape in 2026.
Kirklees Council says the regeneration plan, funded by borrowing, is the "preferred option" for the town centre.
Councillor Peter McBride, in charge of regeneration for the authority, said without the investment the town would be "doomed".
The existing Queensgate Market, which is to be refurbished, would become a library and art gallery, plans show.
There will be an entirely new venue with a capacity of between 1,200 and 2,500, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The 1930s central library will become the town's new museum, replacing the ageing Tolson Museum and absorbing much of its collection.
The Piazza Centre is set to be demolished to make way for a new urban park and food hall
A new food hall earmarked in the area currently occupied by The Piazza Centre and other elements is envisaged as the "glue" that will bring the various features together.
It will open out into an "urban park", another aspect of the project that will replace The Piazza Centre when it is eventually demolished.
Mr McBride said it was a "huge" but "thoughtful" risk.
He added: "It's also a huge risk to ignore the issue and to leave things behind and not to invest in our future.
"If we don't, this town will be doomed."
Architects Feilden Clegg Bradley, who have worked on the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, London's Alexandra Palace and Sheffield's Heart of the City, have helped draw up the plans.
The wider plan, which is expected to cost a total of £250m, focuses on regenerating six key areas of Huddersfield town centre, external.
They are the Station Gateway, St Peter’s, Kingsgate and King Street, New Street, the Civic Quarter, and Queensgate and The Piazza area, which will become the new cultural heart.
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