Civic Centre is ‘Marmite’ but can kickstart regeneration

IT COULD START 'WAVE OF CITY LIVING'

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

THE towering Civic Centre has been described as a ‘Marmite’ building by the city's economic development chief - but it is vital for the regeneration of Plymouth’s city centre into somewhere “cool, edgy and vibrant”.

David Draffan, a leading officer at Plymouth City Council, said the crumbling pile might not be to everyone’s taste but its £50m transformation - expected by 2029 - is key and predicted a bright future for the city centre.

In his newly-posted bimonthly Plymouth Economic Development Blog, Mr Draffan said: “I know the Civic Centre is Marmite but I really believe if we can get this project right it will kickstart a wave of city living and place making.

“If we get this right our city centre has a bright future with the right mix of housing, leisure, retail, culture, evening and nighttime economy and public realm. A true centre of our city we can all be proud of and one that shines regionally”

Mr Draffan, service director for economic development at the council, said that since March the council has “taken back the Civic Centre” and raised more than £50m towards its refurbishment.

He said it will become the city’s first “built-to-rent housing scheme” with 144 homes and a city centre college campus.

Mr Draffan, a former Plymouth city centre manager, called himself a “retail bore” but also stressed : “City centres are, in fact, something about which I do know quite a lot”.