Heritage, children, families: St Helen’s town centre regeneration plans revealed

St Helens Borough Council have announced plans to transform their town centre with the authorities main focus on converting the area into a place children and families will enjoy. 

In partnership with The English Cities Fund, the council have revealed art and design ideas that reflect the town centre’s heritage, buildings and features.

Jon Matthews Architects, the company responsible for bringing the ideas to life, has created the masterplan and detailed the design of the three central areas in proposals for the first phase of regeneration, which members of the public can view as part of a new community consultation starting this week.

The star of the show is a new market hall that is set to be created. It will be comprised of 23 stalls, food and beverage outlets, a bar and performance area, along with a range of other amenities to encourage and cater for visitors through the daytime and evenings. Outside the market hall, there will also be space for children to play that will be furnished with street furniture.

Against this backdrop, whilst the market hall will bring a fresh new feel to the town centre, the design of the building will include references to the history of St Helens through architectural history.

Alongside constructing a new market hall, the council also has plans to create a new 150-bedroom hotel, 64 homes and 10,915 square feet of modern retail space, along with a new 49,670 square foot sustainable office building. Art installations that celebrate the town’s history, ingenuity and individuality will also feature in recessed sections of the ground floor exterior of the hotel – similar to the market hall.

Cllr David Baines, Leader of St Helens Borough Council, said: ‘This is an extremely exciting time for our borough with major regeneration projects at various stages of development, from new schools already delivered and Glass Futures nearing completion, to the Parkside redevelopment and much, much more.

‘Our town centres in St Helens and Earlstown are key to our borough and of huge importance to local people. Their rejuvenation is critical to our borough’s future, and I am delighted to see our once in a lifetime plans for St Helens reach the next stage of the process.

‘The plans are significant and we want to hear from as many residents and businesses as possible to help us shape the proposals.  

‘We are totally focussed on providing the right conditions that will revitalise the town centre. With our focus on heritage, children and families, and our high ambitions for the future, we want to support the hundreds of local independent businesses already operating there and the growth of new ones, provide the right infrastructure, and deliver quality spaces and places that local people of all ages can enjoy.’

Stuart Rogers, Project Director at ECF, said: ‘We’re looking forward to showcasing the thinking and detail that has gone into preparing for the next stage of this unique project. Everyone involved is committed to engaging with the community and setting the town on a path that will create a positive legacy to benefit people for generations to come.’

He added that while the challenges facing St Helens may not be unique – towns centres everywhere have suffered because of changing shopping habits – St Helens does have many strengths to build upon and some unique issues to address.  

‘There are excellent transport links, and the right sense of arrival and mix of experiential amenities that people need will attract people back into the centre. Local people have also told us that the existing large scale and monolithic indoor shopping precincts have become a barrier to getting around the town. Our exciting proposals will restore the historical street pattern in places and help local residents, businesses and visitors alike with wayfinding.’

People are invited to have their say on the St Helens town centre proposals across a series of consultation events taking place this month. Members of the project team, including the architects, will be on hand to talk through the plans and answer questions from the community.  

Images: Jon Matthews Architects