Latest images of historic street’s heritage scheme unveiled
New artist’s impressions have been created to show how shop frontages in City of Wolverhampton’s historic Queen Street would look if restored to their former glory.
The images are aimed at encouraging business owners and tenants in the street to invest in the project and take advantage of funding from the Queen Street Gateway Townscape Heritage Scheme.
Work on three properties – one home to a solicitors’ firm, one lettable offices and the other flats – is underway and they will benefit from grants totalling around £165,000.
The project also currently features as part of an exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery which tells the story of Queen Street through the years – and runs until November 4, 2018.
The Townscape Heritage Scheme is backed by a grant of £864,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
City of Wolverhampton Council has also committed £250,000 of match funding to the overall project as part of its wider regeneration plans and £1.1m will come from investment by the owners of the buildings who receive grants.
The new images have been created based on old photographs discovered by the Friends of Wolverhampton Archives, and supplemented, where necessary, by planning drawings from the 1950s onwards showing existing shopfronts that were about to be replaced.
The Townscape Heritage Scheme makes generous provision for the replacement of shopfronts, providing grants of 85% towards these works.
Cllr Peter Bilson, deputy leader and cabinet member for city assets and housing, said: “The project team have been able to establish the original design of many of these shopfronts and to help promote the shopfront programme to owners and tenants these have now been presented as attractive CGIs produced by ETC Design.
“We will continue to work closely with the property owners, tenants, and our project partners, to develop proposals.
“This will help breathe new life into the area and its businesses, while at the same time staying true to the history of these wonderful buildings in our city.
“As a council, preserving the rich heritage and conservation areas in the city is as important to our regeneration plans as the millions of pounds being invested in new development.”
The council is working with other parties representing local community interests to deliver the scheme on Queen Street.
The Townscape Heritage Partnership includes the Wolverhampton Business Improvement District (BID), the Wolverhampton Civic and Historical Society, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Cultural Arts Organisation, Wolverhampton Partners in Progress, Wolverhampton Society of Architects, The Friends of the Archives, Wolverhampton Building Regeneration Preservation Trust and Wolverhampton College.
