A campaign by North East Lincolnshire Council to rejuvenate buildings in Grimsby town centre continues to drive forward with improvements currently underway at several prominent properties.
Completed earlier in the year were the former My Oriental Fusion property, in Town Hall Street, and The Body Shop, My Cigara, Pizza Hut, TSB, and Nationwide Building Society in Victoria Street. Problems identified prior to works included cracked or missing render, flaking paintwork, shrubs growing in brickwork, missing gutters and drainpipes and vegetation in the gutters and on the roof.
Started in October 2022, the property project has been focussed on the pedestrianised Victoria Street West area and surrounding streets. Several unkempt properties were identified at the time, although most in the area only needed minor work to bring them up to standard.
Cllr Ron Shepherd, portfolio holder for Safer and Stronger Communities at North East Lincolnshire Council, commented:
“Not only do improvements like these make a positive difference for businesses, by allowing the potential for attracting new customers, they also instil a sense of pride in the wider community.
“Smarter areas also tend to enjoy higher property values, while run-down areas often become beacons for criminality and anti-social behaviour, therefore it is important we continue to strive for better buildings across the town centre.
“I’m grateful to all the property owners who are taking care of their buildings and making the town centre a more attractive place to work, visit and enjoy.”
It was hoped that the improvements to buildings earlier this year would encourage other property owners in the locale to do the same. Work is currently being completed at the former House of Fraser store, the Post Office, Co-Op Travel, Specsavers, Top Nails and Grimsby Learning Centre.
All six buildings are undergoing work to check and remove debris from rainwater goods, such as gutters, and repairing, replacing, and repainting flaking or rotten exterior woodwork, while Co-Op Travel and Specsavers are having repairs made to defective render. Grimsby Learning Centre will enjoy a spruce-up of the external woodwork with a fresh coat of paint whilst also cleaning up the exterior of the building. Top Nails have erected scaffolding which will see repairs to the guttering, painting external woodwork and general tidy up to the property. Repairs to the exterior of the former House of Fraser building include the gutters, woodwork, paintwork, windows, doors, tiles and signage.
The plan for the wider Grimsby town centre includes a multi-million-pound leisure scheme, to include a new cinema, market, housing development, youth facility, and revamped Riverhead. These major refurbishments are all a part of plans to invigorate the area.
Property owners inside of this improvement zone are realising the potential these changes could bring.
The town centre project resembles an earlier scheme undertaken to improve the street scene on the A180, between Riby Square in Grimsby and Suggitt’s Lane in Cleethorpes. Operation Gateway, as it was named, saw improvements carried out at 130 buildings in the target area. These changes have made a big difference to the area and give a better impression of the town as visitors drive through to Cleethorpes for their summer holiday breaks.
Share this article