Two former department stores on Lord Street could be converted into a new boutique hotel, cinema and dining and events space while the other would be a co-working office, café and apartments.
The schemes are among ‘Big Ideas’ revealed today under the Southport Town Deal, which aims to secure £25million regeneration funding for Southport.
Beales and Wayfarers Arcade would host the cinema, dining and events space, while Beales would be a co-working, cafe and apartments space.
The former McDonald’s building on Eastbank Street could be transformed into a creative and digital business hub; a new state-of-the-art interchange facility (including bus / train / pedestrian / cycle interchange) and a new multi-storey car park, offices and cafes could be built.
Consultation on the draft Vision and the Big Ideas for Southport will run from today (Monday 29th June) until Monday 20th July – local residents, businesses and visitors are invited to provide their comments online at https://yourseftonyoursay.sefton.gov.uk/futuresouthport/
Those without internet access are encouraged to call the consultation hotline on 0808 168 8296.
The Southport Town Deal strategy for the town centre is shown on the plan and the Big Ideas are described in words and pictures below. The images used are for illustrative purposes.
Big ideas for change…
Here we introduce some of the big ideas to generate more activity, to boost footfall and spending in the town centre
1. Focus the main shopping area on a smaller area of the town centre – around the central section of Lord Street and Chapel Street, as well as Tulketh Street and King Street
2. Replace the loss of major attractions (such as the department stores) with new uses that will create a buzz and activity during the day and at night, such as:
- A state-of-the-art interchange facility (including bus / train / pedestrian / cycle interchange, a new multi-storey car park, offices and cafes and convenience shops)
- A creative and digital business hub – bringing creative business into the heart of the town centre in modern accommodation
- An indoor street food market to regenerate the Southport Market on King Street
- A boutique hotel, cinema, dining and events space in the former Beales store and Wayfarer’s Arcade
3. Support the thriving independent businesses in Lord Street north (the “northern quarter”) by introducing complementary uses:
- Re-use of the former Debenhams store as a co-working office, café and apartments
- More quality restaurants and bars in vacant shops
- Conversion of upper floors of shops to apartments
4. Support Lord Street south by introducing new complementary uses such as:
- A hotel
- Newly built apartments
- Conversion of upper floors of shops to apartments
5. Develop a landlord engagement programme to encourage re-use of vacant shops and premises for a range of short-term uses (such as pop-up shops or galleries) and longer term uses
6. Invest in the public realm (e.g. the quality of streets and spaces) connecting the assets in the central area of the town centre to create a high quality environment for the community
For many people, Lord Street is one of the most important features of Southport. This grand boulevard was once lined with boutique shops and it was considered to be one of the most exclusive shopping streets in the country. Today, Lord Street and the town centre face challenges as more shopping has moved online.
With the decline of high street retail, other areas of the town centre, such as Chapel Street, Tulketh Street and London Street face similar challenges and the town can no longer sustain shops over such a large area. New uses and occupiers need to be found. Positively, the town centre does have a thriving independent business scene and many attractive buildings which could be re-purposed for new uses.
During the initial consultation, people have told Southport Town Deal:
- Lord Street is the “centrepiece” of the town, but it has fallen on hard times. Many people want to see it return to its former glory
- There is concern for the gaps in Lord Street left by the closure of big department stores such as Debenhams and Beales
- We should be investing to protect and improve the historic buildings in the town centre
- Need to provide on street short stay parking on Lord Street
- The quality of Lord Street’s footpaths, road space and street furniture (e.g. benches, lamps, bins) needs to be improved
- The train station and the station arcade create a poor first impression of the town
- Chapel Street has many vacant shops that we need to find new uses for
- Town centre car parking can be tricky to find
- The town centre lacks modern long stay car parking
- There is no public transport interchange
- Vacant upper floors of shops could be converted to homes
- New public art for the town centre to improve its look (e.g. murals, paintings, sculpture, statues)
- The town centre is missing a street food market like you see in other towns
- As shops become cheaper to rent then new uses such as offices and artists’ studios might be attracted to Lord Street
- We should find temporary uses for vacant shops to improve the way they look
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