Good news for Cov? (8 Viewers)

[clint van damme]

 

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[publican1990]

all these developments seem to have plenty of hub but not much pub!
They need more community focal points. There's some really nice properties in the canal basin development but there's nothing round to do round there.

A good friend lives around there and he pretty much agrees with your assessment. I think they could make much more of it. Although when I last visited I was pleasantly surprised to see that Playwrights had opened up a second branch there! The Tin is a really cool venue too, in the old coal vaults. I can't help but think more would be made of it in a different city. There's also a big empty space underneath a block of flats just by the Tin. I believe when it was built the plan was to turn it into a bar or restaurant but it never materialised. They are renovating the old Daimler powerhouse into an arts space as part of the city of culture. Which should attract more people round there. I believe the company running it has taken out a relatively long lease. It's one of the most historic buildings in Cov and one of the worlds oldest remaining car factory buildings. A real part of our heritage. Its criminal that it's been empty for so long.

 

[clint van damme]

A good friend lives around there and he pretty much agrees with your assessment. I think they could make much more of it. Although when I last visited I was pleasantly surprised to see that Playwrights had opened up a second branch there! The Tin is a really cool venue too, in the old coal vaults. I can't help but think more would be made of it in a different city. There's also a big empty space underneath a block of flats just by the Tin. I believe when it was built the plan was to turn it into a bar or restaurant but it never materialised. They are renovating the old Daimler powerhouse into an arts space as part of the city of culture. Which should attract more people round there. I believe the company running it has taken out a relatively long lease. It's one of the most historic buildings in Cov and one of the worlds oldest remaining car factory buildings. A real part of our heritage. Its criminal that it's been empty for so long.

they were supposed to develop the canal basin years ago but it never really materialised. I know it's been discussed on here before but its criminal, areal waste.

 

[Sky Blue Dal]

Hope art hub will include a shakespearian style theatre and also something similar to the Warwick Art Centre that will attract shows like Question time etc.

Hope it really happens as Coventry needs to produce more artistic talent for a city its size. Also about time it became more cultural than a place where chavs hang around.

Fingers crossed it happens.

 

[hill83]

They're just being down to earth.

Spade a spade.
University of life.
School of hard knocks.

 

[Macca]

This would be a fantastic acquisition for the City but I echo the comments on here that it won’t be received well unless there is a huge soft play area or discount store attached

 

[Travs]

In an ideal world i'd like to see the Canal Basin re-invigorated and become the "arts hub"..... and i wonder if the Ikea area would be of sufficient size to become a higher-end retail centre like Highcross Leicester/Bullring? Whether there is the appeal to higher end stores i'm not sure.

 

[clint van damme]

In an ideal world i'd like to see the Canal Basin re-invigorated and become the "arts hub"..... and i wonder if the Ikea area would be of sufficient size to become a higher-end retail centre like Highcross Leicester/Bullring? Whether there is the appeal to higher end stores i'm not sure.

don't think there's the footfall and certainly not the disposable income unfortunately.

 

[Travs]

don't think there's the footfall and certainly not the disposable income unfortunately.

I tend to agree... i did say "in an ideal world"!

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

I don't really see the point of the pavilion. There's so many empty buildings in the city centre that could be used for the same purpose and it seems odd to knock buildings down to open things up to then put another building in that blocks everything back off.

Agree about the pavilion.

Also find the layout a bit out. Would make far more sense to create a view throuogh from Croft road to New Union St, probably with a view of Christchurch from the Croft rd end to draw people in. Even more so if IKEA becomes that arts centre.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

they were supposed to develop the canal basin years ago but it never really materialised. I know it's been discussed on here before but its criminal, areal waste.

Depending on how far back you go they did a bit with some office and apartments but didn't lead to anything more.

Then a few years ago they turned the place into a conservation zone which pretty much killed any hope of transformation. Could be Coventry's version of Brindley Place.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

In an ideal world i'd like to see the Canal Basin re-invigorated and become the "arts hub"..... and i wonder if the Ikea area would be of sufficient size to become a higher-end retail centre like Highcross Leicester/Bullring? Whether there is the appeal to higher end stores i'm not sure.

As I've put above i agree entirely and feel it could become a Brindley Place. Coal vaults as a small venue is pretty decent and if you had an arts centre on the corner of the ring road by J1 it'd be prominent position and draw people in. Our main performing arts centre is right on the outsdie and even called Warwick Arts Centre.

Ring road is the major problem but they had plans to improve that access and people just blindly oppose it. But Brindley Place had that same problem and fixed it. Could lead to city centre wide redevelopment from 'the station to the basin'. Could be Cov's version of the Magnificent Mile.

 

[shmmeee]

TBh I’d rather they out in high quality residential to expand on what’s there than trying to make it into something it’s never going to be. Canal should be a green route into the centre and a source of better quality housing compared to the absolute dogshit terraces around it all the way up to the A444.

Like the idea of a nightlife place but let’s be honest it’s spread thin enough in the city centre and they’d be better improving what we’ve got than sticking another random development miles away from what’s there. Fargo made that mistake.

 

[Travs]

The Canal is already an adequate "green route" to the centre tbf... yeas it's a bit run-down in places scenically, but gets plenty of traffic, i run on it a lot and there's a lot of people use it. It's being upgraded currently, and pretty much now all hard surface all the way out to the Greyhound.

 

[publican1990]

In an ideal world i'd like to see the Canal Basin re-invigorated and become the "arts hub"..... and i wonder if the Ikea area would be of sufficient size to become a higher-end retail centre like Highcross Leicester/Bullring? Whether there is the appeal to higher end stores i'm not sure.

I'd welcome anything in the old IKEA building as it's too big to just be sitting empty. When they first announced they were leaving I did wonder if it could be turned into a multi use entertainment type complex. You could have a bowling alley, indoor mini golf. A venue in Brum has indoor baseball batting cages and curling too. Pool and snooker tables, darts. You could also have an area for street food from Cov vendors along the lines of Digbeth dining club along with bars/micropub type thing.

With the cinema next door and with it being relatively close to the train and bus stations you could really turn the whole area in to an 'entertainment quarter', to draw people in not just from Cov but from smaller places nearby. The above idea wouldn't be to everybody's taste, but I believe Coventry has one of the youngest average age populations in Britain. As well as a large student population. Something like that could really boost the local economy if done right.

You could then develop the Canal basin into the 'arts quarter', there's already the Tin, the Daimler powerhouse is being developed into an arts centre. I believe quite a few of the canal warehouse buildings on Leicester row are currently in use by local artists for their workshops. You could try and entice the university on board with showcases for their arts/music students.

 

[shmmeee]

The Canal is already an adequate "green route" to the centre tbf... yeas it's a bit run-down in places scenically, but gets plenty of traffic, i run on it a lot and there's a lot of people use it. It's being upgraded currently, and pretty much now all hard surface all the way out to the Greyhound.

I haven’t been down since I moved out of Foleshill a couple of years ago so that’s great if they have. Still think there’s chunks where the residential could be turned to face it and make the whole thing more welcoming, but I shall have to take a walk one day and see what it’s like now.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

I'd welcome anything in the old IKEA building as it's too big to just be sitting empty. When they first announced they were leaving I did wonder if it could be turned into a multi use entertainment type complex. You could have a bowling alley, indoor mini golf. A venue in Brum has indoor baseball batting cages and curling too. Pool and snooker tables, darts. You could also have an area for street food from Cov vendors along the lines of Digbeth dining club along with bars/micropub type thing.

With the cinema next door and with it being relatively close to the train and bus stations you could really turn the whole area in to an 'entertainment quarter', to draw people in not just from Cov but from smaller places nearby. The above idea wouldn't be to everybody's taste, but I believe Coventry has one of the youngest average age populations in Britain. As well as a large student population. Something like that could really boost the local economy if done right.

You could then develop the Canal basin into the 'arts quarter', there's already the Tin, the Daimler powerhouse is being developed into an arts centre. I believe quite a few of the canal warehouse buildings on Leicester row are currently in use by local artists for their workshops. You could try and entice the university on board with showcases for their arts/music students.

I agree about the entertainment style venue. I thought different floors of it could be used by businesses such as the indoor golf/cocktail bars, karting, escape room, Laser Quest etc as their all things that could suit the way the building is set out. Some might argue that a few of those might be a bit faddy and it would depend on the rates charged given all they really need is quite a large indoor space. With the cinema and water park nearby it's a good place to focus this on, though we can't get into the old habit of having certain areas for certain things like the precinct, so a bit more mixed use and I think in the future having a residential element in every area is key to keep an area lively throughout the day.

One thing i hope they do is put something with frontages on it and put something on those big blank walls. Depressing how many totally featureless sides of buildings Coventry have, especially at street level

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

I haven’t been down since I moved out of Foleshill a couple of years ago so that’s great if they have. Still think there’s chunks where the residential could be turned to face it and make the whole thing more welcoming, but I shall have to take a walk one day and see what it’s like now.

Agree entirely about the houses facing the canal.

Having the back gardens as you walk along the canal which are either unkempt or overgrown, or have large fences to provide the owners with some privacy. Having the house front the canal with a road/pavement between allows both residents and public to enjoy it.

If I owned one of those homes I'd have a constant nagging security issue of people being able to use the canal as a means to access the rear of my house largely unseen.

A bit like my house and the entry at the rear to access the garage - anyone can wander up it and sneak about. I'm lucky where I live but in other places like near my sister there's all sorts of cans' canisters and even occasional needles around them. They have been used to break into people's garages and are becoming more used to dump things in. But as it's private land council have no obligation to sort it out and they fall into disrepair cos people aren't willing to chip in to sort it out. Stupid idea all road really as they waste space having to put in what is effectively an extra road so people can park the cars. Why didn't they just use the actual road, build the houses a bit further back to allow driveways and then the extra bit at the back used for the entry can be reclaimed to extend the garden.

 

[David O'Day]

As I've put above i agree entirely and feel it could become a Brindley Place. Coal vaults as a small venue is pretty decent and if you had an arts centre on the corner of the ring road by J1 it'd be prominent position and draw people in. Our main performing arts centre is right on the outsdie and even called Warwick Arts Centre.

Ring road is the major problem but they had plans to improve that access and people just blindly oppose it. But Brindley Place had that same problem and fixed it. Could lead to city centre wide redevelopment from 'the station to the basin'. Could be Cov's version of the Magnificent Mile.

Yeah the amount of abuse the council get every time they try and demolish that bridge everyone hates is amazing