Pedestrians will soon be able to enjoy an extension to the triple-award winning Old Market Square which will mean Nottingham City Council can host even bigger and better events in future building on the success of the E:on ice rink and the Nottingham Eye.

Work to create the new public space on King Street between Old Market Square and Queen Street starts this Sunday (20th April) and represents an investment of over £600,000 of Central Government funding and will see the space available to pedestrians in this area increase by 50%.

The new public space will also have its own unique attractions to draw people into the area, when the Brian Clough Statue and permanent site for Nottingham’s Speakers’ Corner are sited there later in the year.

The same high quality granite paving, which was laid in Old Market Square, will be used and there will be:

• More seating, which will be around the Brian Clough Statue and like the informal granite seating in the Square
• High quality street furniture, such as brushed stainless steel litter bins.
• More cycle stands
• Three antique street lanterns from the 1930s, as well as new street lighting
• A new CCTV camera
• Three new semi-mature Ginkgo Biloba trees, which have distinctive green fan-shaped leaves that turn bright yellow in autumn.

Councillor Brian Parbutt, Portfolio Holder for Transport, Economic Development and Skills, said:

“The way that the bottom of King Street is currently laid out means there is a redundant section of road and very little room for pedestrians and yet surveys show that the most popular pedestrian route through the Square is via Exchange Walk and up to King Street. By redesigning this area we will be able to create a feeling of spaciousness, through a layout which is more flexible, useable and stylish.”

The improvements, which start this Sunday (20th April), will be carried out in three stages. It is hoped that the whole scheme will be complete by late September.