Leicester Station Developments

Just found this thread and wondered if there were any updates on "Plan B" as there does seem to be continued discussion between the three parties, according to the GC Main Line magazine.

 

Well there has been discussions between 2 councils and the railway to see if a plan B is financially viable and if it is they can move on at the moment there looking at slight changes to the plans but looks like a plan b might happen but no official announcement

 

There has been clearence work on the musuem site trees felled land cleared don't know it it its related to the musuem

 

Here is the situation today.

 

Seen that but don't know if it's museum related or something else the land belongs to the railway

 

There is more activity on site. A small drilling rig is there, boring the first of five holes, to assess the soil structure in the area to the East of the footpath alongside the Leicester North Station. There are two "humps" along the path and presumably these would be reduced down to the Station track level to give a base for any development. It is difficult to see as there is still a narrow screen of hedging alongside the wire fence.

 

From the GCR AGM there is a Project Summary booklet which has a page about the Leicester Museum and Station ...
"Advanced planning stage"
"Several routes to funding provisionally agreed"
"Design more in-keeping with Railway than previous proposals"
"Incorporating museum, station and conference/education centre in one enclosed area"
"Over 32,000 square feet"
"Estimated cost circa £7,000,000"
So, behind the scenes, progress is continuing to be made.

 

There's a lot going on at the GCR at the moment with heavy expenditure committed to. I wonder if part of the reason for the HLF turning down the application was a feeling that it might be overstretching its ability to raise matched funding and manage so many projects.

 

Here is the picture of the museum proposal from the booklet. Notice how the details are very close to the generic GC house style as typified by the restored Leicester Central station facade. This, I'm sure, will please many more people.

 

It's a bit of a stretch to link this image to what was Leicester Central Station in its heyday. Looks a tad like what remains of that station in its run down condition, still it's a bit better than the previous modern carbuncle proposed @ Leicester North. . . . .

https://images.app.goo.gl/s8U8T7XSekQ1EPQW8


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

There has been a lot of sympathetic work done to restore the facade of the original GC station recently and it now looks like this...

 

Great site showing Leicester Central over the years. I wasn't aware of all the redevelopment happening there, which I'd have to say is a big improvement over the semi-dereliction from what I can see.

Edit - here's the link I meant to post - lots of pics of the redevelopment too.
http://www.gcrleicester.info/html/leicester_central.html

 

Good to see some restoration although it's some time since I last saw the building which was in a significant state of disrepair/dereliction in my student years many many moons ago. What are the plans for the building?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

That is a fair point, but I believe the HLF was also suffering from a reduced income as fewer people were/are entering the National lottery. The GCR certainly do have a number of projects on-going but they do seem to be getting completed reasonably on-time and, I think, on-budget.
Back to the Museum....should a new thread be started as the lottery funding issue is now "Old news" and it is a significantly different project these days?

 

Well we seem to have a new thread title now....but it seems to confuse the possible Museum development at Leicester North Station with the redevelopment of the former Leicester Great Central Station....or it it me?

 

I agree - when I saw the title I thought is that North, Central or Midland?

 

That’s shocking, it looks like a ten-year-old’s idea impression of Leicester Central. No attention to detail at all.

 

I'm sure that this sketch is just an impression rather than a detailed outline. As such, I am reassured that the final proposal will be much more in keeping with the GC than any of the previous, HLF influenced..."Iconic" suggestions. However, time will tell!

 

I’m not sure the ‘all-seeing eye’ in the middle is doing it any favours… is the designer a mason, perchance…?

Simon