£2.1million Torquay promenade project to begin this month
Work on a £2.1-million project to redevelop the banjo adjoining Torquay's Princess Gardens gets under way at the end of October.
Following a tendering process, Torbay Council has awarded the contract to Dawnus Construction Ltd, who earlier this year carried out the Phase 1 restoration of the adjoining Princess Promenade and who successfully installed the suspended walkways and landscaping at the nearby Royal Terrace Gardens.
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The Phase 2 work, starting on Monday 29 October, will see the demolition of the existing two level banjo and its replacement with a wider single level structure.
There will be disabled access into the sunken garden through to the banjo, and concrete repairs will be carried out to the Eastern Promenade columns and beams.
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A technical system known as cathodic protection will be installed to minimise any future corrosion of the structure.
Stairs that are suitable for less able members of the public will be built from both Eastern and Western Promenades.
The scheme is due to be completed next June. The banjo and the sunken garden will be closed while work is in progress, but the recently opened Eastern Promenade will remain open.
Torbay's Mayor, Gordon Oliver, said: "I was extremely pleased to cut a ribbon in June to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the restoration of the Princess Promenade, which is in a prime location popular with local residents and visitors to the Bay.
"My colleagues and I are very keen to see the full restoration of the Promenade as part of our election promise and to keep this area of public open space, free of any buildings, I have also been keen to follow up this scheme with a project that will improve the whole Princess Gardens area, including the banjo.
"The Princess Promenade project provided work for approximately 20 people for four months. I am pleased that this Phase 2 scheme will enable Dawnus Construction once again to provide jobs, this time for about eight months."
The first week of the work will involve surveying. Major works begin on November 5.
Comments
by crackingview
Sunday, October 21 2012, 7:10PM
“wow more investment - brilliant
first a decent bridge to the cut off island we have become in the shape of the bypass, then improvements (despite what you think of it) to the kerswell gardens island, now improvements to the seafront (or as i see it " the place where visitors go to appreciate the bay" ) - shame the construction went to a welsh company, when we have plenty of excellent contruction companies around torbay and south devon
money does follow money and torbay is crying out for investment, i hope the investment does the trick and starts the ball rolling for further regeneration that will improve and carry on for all ages , for the young - the thought of having a job through the week and a vibrant place during the weekend - for the family, job security and a safe place to live - for the elderly, a beautifull place to live with excellent services , come on torbay - lets get behind this and ask for more and more and stop bloody moaning unless you can do better ?”
by howardd1
Friday, October 19 2012, 7:20PM
“that shelter on the back of the theatre is where the down and outs sleep , knock it down ,and emply security to move them on form the rest of the front”
by realityzone
Friday, October 19 2012, 7:08PM
“I'm not really fussed about it being "two tone" the main this is the prom is being restored after being left to rot by the previous Mayor of over five years.”
by RivieraPalms
Friday, October 19 2012, 1:35PM
“The thing that concerns me is that the new flooring isn't two tone. Promenades around the world are two tone with patterns at intervals. The new work done on Torquay Prom earlier in the year is single tone with no patterns. It didn't really bother me until one day walking along the top of Rock Walk I stopped to observe the newly opened Prom and noticed how different the new flooring was to the old.
I don't think its a good idea to go against what we already had (two tone), the past residents of Torquay thought that that was the way to go, and the resorts in Spain, South of France, well the whole Med really, I now there are financial problems but is two tone too much to ask?
Anyone who wants to walk along the top of Rock Walk and get an aerial view of the Prom will notice immediately how well the red and cream colour of the previous floor goes with the green of the grass and the plant life. The white of all the boats and the turquoise of the Marina set it all off. Once we have got rid of the colour we will never get it back for decades.
Promenades are places where even the floor is supposed to look beautiful because its a showpiece, its not just an average street its one of the main areas for a coastal town or city. It seems the Torquay people of the past understood this. Is it a lack of cash because if its a lack of imagination then it might be one of the stupidest things I've ever seen a resort do. Even the old floor being pulled up is two tone so its right in front of their eyes.
Examples:
Example 1: http://tinyurl.com/94clw9u
Example 2: http://tinyurl.com/9a5lfaf
P.S. We can also do it in parks but differently. I think this picture from Bilbao Park is a good example of how it can be done for a park environment: http://tinyurl.com/8kxnh89
There's an article from yesterday's Herald Express asking how will Torbay's cultural future look? I don't know, how will it look?...monotone?”
by SidneyNuff
Friday, October 19 2012, 12:45PM
“That's a shame, watching Torquays drug addicts, alcoholics and criminals serving their sentence in the community walk towards somewhere that had bars was quite heartening.”