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.
They're just being down to earth.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'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 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.
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.
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