Legal & General Property is pleased to confirm that work has started on site to build St Stephens Place Leisure Park, the first cinema anchored development in Trowbridge for over 20 years.
Last week Leadbitter Group, a Bristol based company, were formally appointed lead contractor for the development and will carry out the regeneration of a long-neglected part of Trowbridge town centre. Work started on site on 6 June 2012, creating over 100 jobs for local tradespeople. Legal & General Property, the firm behind St Stephens Place Leisure Park and owner of the neighbouring Castle Place Shopping Centre, completed contracts in April with ODEON and Premier Inn. The development will provide a new seven-screen ODEON multiplex cinema, a new 80-bed Premier Inn hotel, as well as a range of family restaurants, cafes and bars, 111 new car parking spaces, new landscaped areas of riverside open space, which once completed will create over 200 new ongoing jobs for Trowbridge.
Formerly home to a Tesco store, the site has lain dormant since the mid-1990s. The site will now become a hive of activity – construction will gather in pace over the summer, with a view to St Stephens Place Leisure Park opening for the people of Trowbridge in October 2013.
Ken Taylor, Property Director, ODEON Cinemas, comments:
“ODEON Cinemas is delighted that construction of our cinema at St Stephens Place Trowbridge has started. We know how much local residents have missed a cinema in the town. A start this week means that we will be able to open in time for Autumn 2013.”
Tim Russell, Senior Asset Manager at Legal & General Property, comments:
”With the appointment of contractors we are sending out the strong message that St Stephens Place Leisure Park is happening and happening right now. We are delighted to have delivered on the promise we made to people of Trowbridge that, unlike other schemes that have been suggested for Trowbridge, only to fall by the wayside, we are here to stay.
“We believe in Trowbridge as a vibrant town full of potential with much to offer as the County Town of Wiltshire and we are delivering the cinema and leisure facilities that the people want and deserve. Our development will inject new life into the town centre, which is such an essential part of the identity and vibrancy of any town. I look forward to being here in October 2013 to welcome the people of Trowbridge and beyond into the newly opened St Stephens Place Leisure Park.”
Rob Bradley, Regional Director, Leadbitter Construction, comments:
“Leadbitter Construction is delighted to have been chosen to build the ODEON Cinema, Premier Inn hotel and restaurants at St Stephens Place in Trowbridge. At its peak our construction site will provide over 100 jobs for local tradespeople.”
Nick Brown, from SK Fruits, comments:
“The start of this construction can only be good news for Trowbridge. It’s about time someone did something with the site. The proposed facilities look terrific and will only be of benefit to the local community.”
Tino Pelledri, chairman, Trowbridge County Town Initiative, comments:
“I am in full support of this development, and I’m delighted that construction has begun. I think this development is key to the future of Trowbridge town centre. The town desperately needed this.”
Savills acts as the retained agent on St Stephens Place.
The proposals can be viewed online at www.trowbridgecinema.co.uk and local people can follow the scheme’s progress on Twitter – @StStephensPlace.
