It's set to go up around Broadgate square where columns are now being repaired
New lighting is set to go up in Coventry city centre as part of finishing touches to a revamp of the area. The council plans to put in midcentury style lamps on balconies looking onto Broadgate square, according to an application lodged this month.
The lights will be exact replicas of the 1950s 'festival of Britain' lighting that was used in the precinct by Coventry's postwar city architect Donald Gibson. They will replace the original lighting columns that are considered to be "beyond repair" at Broadgate House, a heritage report said.
They will also go up at the old Leofric Hotel, now student accommodation, where the columns had their lamps removed and are now used as flagpoles. A decision on the council's application has not been made yet meaning work hasn't started.
The plans can be viewed on the council's planning portal under reference: PL/2023/0002112/LBC. It comes two years after similar replica lamps went up on balconies on nearby Upper Precinct to mark the City of Culture, the report added.
The lighting will "continue the common visual narrative of the area" and have a "positive effect" on how the Grade II listed buildings look - "bringing them closer to Gibson’s intended designs and finish," it said. Funding for the scheme was agreed by the council last year as part of a wider £1.8 million package of works in the city centre.
The refresh also includes repairing and cleaning the stone pillars which make up part of the Grade II listed buildings in the area. Work on the columns started last week and will cost the £58,250, but no figure has been finalised for the lighting replacements yet.
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change said: "This work is part of a package of improvements that will be made to the city centre and it is on top of the £80 million in grant that we secured to transform areas including Upper Precinct with its play fountains, Bull Yard, Pool Meadow and the Cathedral area.
"This work has been long planned, since last year in fact, and it will finish off the work to the Upper Precinct area. The Grade II columns, which we own, are historically important so it is right that that we maintain them and of course they will sit well as a combination of the old and the new as our city centre continues to evolve to meet the ways people want to use and enjoy it."
Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2023 8:04 pm