Christmas ice rink plans for new Leicester public square
PLANS are well underway to install a temporary ice rink as part of a Christmas fair in Leicester city centre.
Council bosses intend to set the rink up in the newly created £1.6 million public square where the demolished indoor market stood.
The move will see people able to take to the ice at the rear of the historic Corn Exchange building.
Officials say they hope to reveal full details about the rink and the fair in the coming weeks but have said they are about halfway through the process of finding a firm to operate the rink.
There have been calls for such an attraction in Leicester for many years with other large cities already making a success of them.
Leicester City Council’s director of tourism, culture and inward investment Mike Dalzell said: “It will be a great venue for a Christmas event and we are halfway through tendering the contract for the fair and the ice rink.
“We think popular.”
Last month workmen opened the majority of the new square to the public though there is some work still being carried out on the site.
It has already been used for a number of public events including De Montfort University Tai Chi classes.
Mr Dalzell added: “We are getting a lot of interest from it will be really organisations wanting to use the space we have created.
“We had a gin festival on Saturday night which was fantastic.
“We will be looking to have a monthly music and art fair too.”
Saturday’s gin festival was organised by 45 West on nearby Hotel Street and saw five distinct bars set up serving G and Ts as well as gin-based cocktails as well as live music.
Phil Burley, one of the organ- isers, said: “It was phenomenal. Everyone had a great time.
“The whole area around there is really thriving now.”
45 West are also working on plans to turn the former Pearce’s jewellers, facing onto the new square into a cocktail bar that offers English tea a scones during the day.
Everard’s has recently completed a £1.4 million revamp of the old Molly O’Grady’s pub which has re-opened as the Knight and Garter. Work to the area continues. Some £2.7 million will be spent on highways works over the simmer and autumn to improve the approaches to the market.
The rear of the Corn Exchange, exposed by the demolition of the market hall, also needs improving.
The council intends to cover the bricks, pipes and ventilation units with cladding which can be used as a screen for projecting films and concerts, but does not expect to have done that until next summer.
Mr Dalzell said: “The back of the building is a mess. There’s no getting away from it and it will take some time to sort out.
“We are looking at ways we might temporarily mask it but the options are quite expensive.
“We could try to wrap it but its a big area and when the wind would get behind it would just take off, like an Americas Cup sail. Securing a screening is the real problem.”