Empty shopping centre to become £12m leisure hub
- Published
A new entertainment hub in an empty town centre shopping centre has been approved by councillors.
The venue will be created in the old Peacock Place building in Northampton that overlooks the Market Square.
Newcastle-based Stack Leisure submitted plans for a retail, food and performance centre on the site.
The company will invest £8m into the project, with a further £4.2m of support from West Northamptonshire Council.
According to the plans laid out at the council's strategic planning meeting, the lower ground floor will largely be given to entertainment ventures, such as children's entertainment, fitness events and live music.
Bar areas, food hall operators, and retail units will also have a place in the building, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The proposed opening hours are 08:00 to 02:30 on any given day and the company will also create around 250 jobs, according to the applicant.
But Liberal Democrat councillor Jonathan Harris said he was disappointed the modern design of the venue was not in keeping with the historic market square, which dates from 1235.
"It just frustrates me really that we have this beautiful historic square and that over the ages we haven't taken account of these historic assets," he said.
Charles Manners, a Conservative, agreed, saying the area had been "absolutely ruined" over the years.
He added that the hub would do nothing to "enhance" it visually, but that he did support a development that would "bring life" back to the town centre.
The new entertainment and leisure venue was approved by the committee on Tuesday, subject to conditions.
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