A development body has called for the opening of Aberdeen’s new shopping complex to be followed by the delivery of Sir Ian Wood’s vision for a fresh civic heart to ensure the “economic survival” of the city centre.
On the day the Union Square centre was opened to shoppers, Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (Acsef) said the time was right to radically transform the city centre by creating a £140million square through the raising of the Denburn Valley to street level.
Sir Ian, chairman of oil services giant the Wood Group, has pledged £50million of his own fortune to make his dream for Union Terrace Gardens become a reality.
Public consultation on the proposal is to get under way next week, but comes amid growing tensions with Peacock Visual Arts, which has said its £14million centre also planned for the gardens is “under threat” because of the scheme.
Acsef chairman Tom Smith said the Union Terrace Gardens project would build on £360million of recent investment in hotel, retail and leisure developments such as Union Square.
“The time is now right to maximise the benefits of these investments for the region and to attract further investment by ensuring these retail centres are well connected around a vibrant city-centre heart,” he said.
“This is all about a public-owned civic space and gardens that make our city more accessible, more attractive, greener, safer and better connected. It is about the economic survival of our city centre.
“The city needs a heart — a specific point from which all activity and purpose appears to emanate, a focal point which defines the whole, a meeting place from which the city opens up to the visitor.”
Peacock’s project for a centre for contemporary arts in the gardens was, meanwhile, discussed at the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts in London yesterday.
An audience of academics heard about architectural firm Brisac Gonzalez's acclaimed design for Peacock’s new centre in the gardens at the talk, and the challenges the scheme has faced.
Edgar Gonzalez of Brisac Gonzalez said: “We hope by drawing attention to the project in this way we can help to ensure the future of this development which would be our first in Scotland.”