A MULTI-MILLION pound project to revitalise Cathedral Plaza will help to bring the area into the ‘modern era’.
The Salmon Harvester Opportunity Fund, which owns the shopping centre, wants to completely revamp it as well as create a new public open space and alter the roundabout on Deansway.
The plans were unveiled at a public exhibition last Thursday (May 1) where residents and business owners were invited to have their say on the scheme ahead of its submission to Worcester City Council later this month.
If it receives planning permission, Nick Webb, of Salmon Harvester Opportunity Fund, said it would feature seven new restaurants, a gym and a small food store, which he believed would draw people to the top end of the High Street.
“While there are some good retail shops on the High Street when you come to the end of it you stop so this will anchor it and give people a reason to come to this part of the city centre,” he said.
“It will give people in Worcester some new restaurants and it will give them a new public space which will link the Cathedral and the city centre together, so there are some big pluses to it.”
The development, which could be up and running by the start of 2016, would also include the shutting off of the central mall area and the closure of the entrance from the High Street.
Mr Webb added: “We don’t feel that the internal mall offers very much. If you look at it at the moment it is quite dark and enclosed, which is not how retail should be.”
Adrian Field, manager of Worcester BID, said he was ‘very excited’ by the plans as he believed it would attract people and new businesses to the city.
“People have been crying out for an overhaul of this site to bring it into the modern era,” he said. “This location is fantastic and it is a key asset to the city, so these plans are very exciting.
“It should draw people to the top end of the High Street and improve the perceived physical barrier between the Cathedral and the High Street.”
Danny Young, director of Fragrance House on Pump Street, added: “This is an exciting modern development, which will bring some really good shops in and it will hopefully bring more people into Worcester.
“Footfall is considerably down since ASDA came in, but I think this sort of development would well and truly re-balance the city centre.”
