A £1.7m public realm improvement contract will get underway this week in Falkirk’s historic town centre, delivering a key component of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Falkirk Townscape Heritage Initiative. These works are in addition to ongoing investment being made to several town centre buildings including the iconic Steeple.
The year long project will start this week in the Cow Wynd with the introduction of improved heritage footpaths and road resurfacing.
Maclay Civil Engineering Ltd has been appointed to deliver the ambitious public realm works for the town which starts 15 May. The contractor will aim to keep disturbance at a minimum but disruption to normal town centre activity is unavoidable in a streetscape improvement project of this scale.
Pete Reid, Falkirk Council’s Growth and Investment Manager said:: “Falkirk is really benefitting from the improvements being made over the past few years and this new work helps to improve the appearance of the historic town centre.
“The work will make a difference to local residents and visitors alike and will see a wide range of improvements made and we aim to keep the disruption and road closures to an absolute minimum as contractors carry out the work.
“When completed, more than £5.5m will have been invested in Falkirk’s town centre.”
The public realm improvements which will extend to various town centre streets over the contract period include:
- Repair and restoration of town centre’s historic wynds and closes
- Resurfacing streets and footpaths incorporating historic traditional materials and interpretation carvings reflecting the rich history of the town centre
- Improvements to lighting
- Restoration of statues
A public display of the new public realm plans are available to view in the Howgate Centre until the 19th May.
A number of road closures in the town centre will be in place to allow this work to go ahead and details can be found here.
The Falkirk Townscape Heritage Initiative is jointly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Historic Environment Scotland, Falkirk Council and supported by Falkirk Environment Trust . Between 2013 and 2018 an investment of £5.5 million will be made in the town centre with the aim of helping to regenerate the area through investing in its unique and rich heritage.
All business and residents will be contracted prior to work starting in their specific street.
Find out more information about Falkirk THI