St George's Shopping Centre in Gravesend is nearly finished
Published: 15:31, 01 May 2019
Updated: 17:12, 01 May 2019
Work is progressing on the redevelopment of a town centre shopping centre.
The refurbishment of the St George's Centre in Gravesend is part of the long-awaited Gravesend Heritage Quarter regeneration scheme, and shopping centre managers posted photos of redevelopment work on Facebook last week.
They posted: "Everything is getting closer to being finished! This week we've put up new hoardings for the redevelopment. Who's seen them? What do you think? Comment below and let us know!"
The shopping centre also stated the redevelopment includes plans for a cinema and restaurant, with work set to begin on those facilities in early 2020.
Reef said the work will include the demolition and rebuilding of retail kiosks. Existing canopies will be demolished and replaced with new metal and timber cladding to the visible facades.
The entrances from the high street will become open spaces with new brick slips at high-level replacing the existing cladding, and the existing paving will be replaced on a phased basis, and will have new street furniture, signage and planters.
First proposed 15-years-ago, the Gravesend Heritage Quarter regeneration project has met repeated stumbling blocks, but development of the shopping centre marked the first real progress on the scheme.
More detailed plans for the remainder of the scheme have yet to be produced, but developers Reef - which bought the £160million project from Edinburgh House last year - say it is reviewing plans before submitting a further application for the rest of the Heritage Quarter.
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Chris Hunter