Work starts on revitalising Slough town centre
Construction work has begun on transforming Slough’s High Street.
Slough Borough Council’s Art at the Centre project team, and lead commissioners for the project, Cllr Dexter Smith and Cllr Julia Long, will be lifting the first paving slab on Monday, 24th September, to mark the beginning of construction work.
The aim of the Art at the Slough Centre project is to physically improve the High Street and create a more inviting place for people to live, work, shop and visit.
The £6million project will create an enhanced shopping area, a safer High Street and better transport accessibility for all users of the town, along with unique lighting, paving, seating and colourful artwork.
Residents have had their input along the way by having their say on potential designs and layouts, which led to the council appointing designers Allen Scott Ltd, consulting engineers Waterman’s Civils and a group of artists in 2005.
The project is expected to be completed in December 2008.
Cllr Dexter Smith, commissioner for Slough planning and transport, said: “This is very exciting. It will be great to see the plans coming off paper and being put into place on a larger scale.
”The Art at the Centre project is all about creating an inviting place residents and visitors, and I hope they will enjoy their new High Street for many years to come.
“It’s also about creating a High Street with a difference so that it is unique from every other High Street in Britain, putting Slough on the map and getting people talking.”
Roger Kirkham, Art at the Centre project manager, said: “I am really looking forward to seeing the new High Street take shape. The lifting of the first paving slab will really make this project a reality, and it will be particularly interesting to see the public art pieces as they go in over the next year.”
Slough Borough Council.