The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Library to be home to £13 million The Vine
Peterborough’s Central Library is to undergo a full refurbishment under a new move to save a £13 million project to create a multi-purpose community hub in the city centre.
The 1980s building in Broadway will be transformed and its upper floors used for a thriving community hub that will deliver a business and education offering while the remainder of the space will be turned into a ‘light and airy modern’ library.
The project has just been approved by the Peterborough
Towns Fund board which has agreed to change its original vision to house The Vine community hub and a food hall in the former TK Maxx building, in Bridge Street and instead split the venture across two separate locations.
The move comes after it was revealed an investor was looking to buy the former TK Maxx and New Look building to transform it into a city landmark.
DRAWING FOOTFALL
The Towns Fund board says the library-based community hub will allow visitors to browse books, socialise, attend a yoga class, buy goods from independent traders, set up and run small businesses, learn new skills and courses and visit exhibitions and events.
It will provide a place to work and visit, drawing footfall to the city centre and supporting the local economy.
A food hall, which will be home to a multitude of food and beverage takeaway restaurants and bars, with a communal dining area, will be sited in a different building, but the location has still to be confirmed.
However, it is thought it could be the former Grade II Listed Victorian railway sheds and site at Fletton Quays.
The property already has outline planning consent for a variety of commercial uses including retail, leisure, community and arts, education and medical.
The site, which was earmarked for a whisky and gin distillery more than three years ago, was put up for sale in March 2021 but was later removed from the market.
CONCEPT A ‘GOOD ONE’
Under the Towns Fund board’s new proposals, the new venue will allow groups of friends, family members and colleagues to meet up in stylish surroundings and cater for all food tastes at the same time.
It envisages pop-up fast food style restaurants and bars surrounding a communal dining area.
Andy Starnes, independent vice-chair of the Peterborough Towns Fund Board, said: “The concept of The
Vine is still a good one.
"When we submitted the business case to the Government, we explained that it might be run across two sites.
"They were still excited by the project and believed it to be successful, that’s why they gave us the £13 million to deliver it.”
Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “As a city, we’ve actually come out of this in a win-win situation.
"We can still deliver The Vine across two sites and we could get a derelict city centre building completely refurbished and turned into something special by private investors.
"That’s not a bad outcome at all when you consider how fast inflation is rising on a national scale.”
Towns Fund money is ring-fenced by the Government. Other projects include a pedestrian bridge over the River Nene, an Activity Centre at Nene Park and a Green Technology Centre at Peterborough College.
Meanwhile, Conservative Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, who is leader of the largest political group on the council after last week’s local elections, has vowed that the sale of the former TK Maxx building will make a profit for the local authority.
He said negotiations with a private investor seeking to buy the former Woolworths and TK Maxx and New Look
buildings at 62 to 68 Bridge Street were at an advanced stage.
He said: “We are negotiating heads of terms and I expect an agreement to be finalised soon.
"The council will make a profit from this sale and it is possible a planning application could be submitted in a year and we might see spades in the ground in two years.”
Details held by the Land Registry show that 62 to 68 Bridge Street was bought for £3,975,000 by the city council on December 15, 2020 from Picton UK Real Estate Trust, based in Guernsey.
Cllr Fitzgerald has previously said that the initial vision for the five-storey eyesore building is a conference and banqueting centre with a rooftop terrace, restaurants and bar plus an unknown number of apartments.
An early image suggests the new look building could be at least twice its current height.
The name of the prospective buyer has not been revealed.
But Cllr Fitzgerald said: “There is no shortage of
national and international investors seeking to do business in Peterborough.
"Companies are queuing up to come and do business in this city.”
The Bridge Street building had been earmarked for The Vine community and culture hub – one of eight Peterborough Towns Fund projects and had secured
£13 million of Government money.