Regeneration
Highcross Leicester opened on 4 September 2008 and has several flagship stores, including a John Lewis, a multiplex cinema, apartments, 2 public squares and al-fresco dining and is the start of many regeneration projects in Leicester that have started to come to fruition.
To the east of Charles Street the city centre is dominated by disused factories and warehouses (which also have some presence in the other outer areas of the city centre). Conversion of these to residential accommodation is ongoing, particularly in the area east of Charles Street and around Humberstone Gate, which has been dubbed 'St George's' by the council, and was made a conservation area in 1989.
St George's South has been designated Leicester's new cultural quarter, and is already the site of the Leicester Creative Business Depot(built on the old Leicester City Bus depot and keeping the initials) and the Athena. The LCB Depot opened in July 2004, and by the time of its first birthday had let 37 of 55 units, with talk starting of finding an additional site.
Opposite the Athena, a new flagship £60 million Curve Theatre, Leicester, designed by Rafael Vinoly Architects, started construction in 2005, on a site that has been long-disused. It is planned to be ready for handover 2007 to the Haymarket company, who will then vacate their existing building (Haymarket Theatre). The first productions would be in 2008. The centre is being funded by the various sources including the City Council, the Arts Council, the European Regional Development Fund and the East Midlands Development Agency.
Further to the south of St George's are plans to create a new business area, near the railway station, including re-use of the old police station, and renovation of the Leicester Mercury building.
St George's North has been proposed for a residential community by the Leicester Regeneration Company. Development has also started on waterfront properties, with a plan to re-use the Great Central station site.
Since the pedestrianisation of the High Street in Leicester city centre many of the independent retail shops have moved into this regenerated area. Some of Leicester's longest running independent shops can now be found in this area.
Read more about this topic: Leicester City Centre
Famous quotes containing the word regeneration:
“The republic, as I at least understand it, means association, of which liberty is only an element, a necessary antecedent. It means association, a new philosophy of life, a divine Ideal that shall move the world, the only means of regeneration vouchsafed to the human race.”
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872)
“Typically, the hero of the fairy tale achieves a domestic, microcosmic triumph, and the hero of myth a world-historical, macrocosmic triumph. Whereas the former—the youngest or despised child who becomes the master of extraordinary powers—prevails over his personal oppressors, the latter brings back from his adventure the means for the regeneration of his society as a whole.”
—Joseph Campbell (1904–1987)