People in Aberdeen will next month be asked for their verdict on ambitious plans to give the city a new £140million civic heart.
The campaign to transform the centre of Aberdeen by decking over Union Terrace Gardens – now named The City Square Project – was launched officially yesterday.
A massive public consultation on the scheme, which would be backed by £50million of oil services tycoon Sir Ian Wood’s own money, is due to start on January 11.
Supporters hope to decide in March whether to press ahead with the plans.
However, completion of the eight-acre square is already pencilled in for 2014.
But other campaigners fighting to “save” the gardens, and the proposed £13million Peacock Visual Arts centre also planned for the site, handed out leaflets outside HM Theatre yesterday.
As they did so, members of Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (Acsef) met inside to launch the drive to deliver Sir Ian’s vision.
Acsef chairman Tom Smith promised a “robust and comprehensive” consultation.
“We will be asking every citizen in Aberdeen if they share our vision to make this project happen,” he said.
“This is about trying to enhance the quality of life in our city. The project is very real and properly thought through with foresight at every level.
“It’s about jobs, wealth and opportunities. It’s about where we go as a region after the oil goes.”
As consultation begins in the new year, leaflets will be posted to residents, exhibition stalls will be set up in city shopping centres, focus groups will hold discussions and a telephone hotline will be manned.
Aberdeen citizens will be asked whether they want the project to go ahead and, if so, what they would like to see in the detailed designs, to be prepared before a planning application is lodged.
With more than 3,500 signatures already on a petition opposing the scheme, Acsef and its public relations team went into overdrive yesterday to emphasise the significance of the vision. As well as unveiling the scheme’s title, The City Square Project, there was also a new logo and tag-line – “This Time. This Place. This Generation.”
Mr Smith, who described the gardens as a “chasm” in the city centre, also had future generations in mind.
Dave Blackwood, who leads the Acsef project steering group, emphasised the way the new square would highlight the historic buildings of Union Terrace and Belmont Street, despite public criticism from television architecture critic Jonathan Meades, who expressed the opposite view.
“The fact you could enjoy all of the architecture around the square is important for us,” said Mr Blackwood. He added that the designs could include as much green space as exists in the gardens at present.
An outdoor ice rink, international markets and space for concerts and public meetings could also be provided.
“This has been done in other places and has been very successful,” said Mr Blackwood. “The challenge for us is to think big enough.”