Creation of City Park on schedule

Work resumed on January 4 following the Christmas period, when the subway between the former police station and the National Media Museum was closed.

Work has been going on stripping out the former police station and, in the coming weeks, exterior demolition of half the building will begin, with much of the work taking place through the night.

The six-acre City Park is the realisation of an ambition for a "park in the city", funded by Bradford Council, Yorkshire Forward and the Regional Transport Board.

It will feature the largest city centre water feature in the UK, including 100 fountains, and the park aims to attract investment to the city centre.

The park, about the size of four football pitches, or St Mark's Square in Venice, will surround the Grade I listed City Hall.

Councillor Adrian Naylor, Bradford Council's executive member for regeneration and economy, said: "Construction work is progressing well and contractors have worked throughout Christmas and the snowy period to keep us on schedule.

"Creating an attractive city centre is vital in increasing our potential as a great place to invest, live, work and visit. It's crucial that we maintain our momentum on this and other regeneration projects during the recession, so the city is ready for the upturn in the economy."

Contractors cleared the snow last week to mark out the new 80m bus canopy on Hall Ings and moved in to start diverting the 20km of pipes and cables currently located under the site.

From yesterday motorists will have started to see changes to Princes Way to improve pedestrian access across the road and begin the re-routing of bus services from Channing Way.

This construction work is likely to cause disruption in the city centre and advance warning signs have been put up on all major routes into the city.

Next week also sees the launch of the CityPark webcam, allowing people to see the changes happening on site from the comfort of their home or desk.

The webcam provides a picture every day and looks back at the area before work started, building up a library of images documenting the works. Visit www.bradford.gov.uk/citypark and click on the webcam page.

A spokeswoman for the project said the park would have a "transformational effect" on Bradford city centre.

An independent report said the park could attract up to 2.2m visits each year, bringing another 80m into the local economy.

Meanwhile the number of boarded-up shops in Bradford city centre has shown a slight fall.

According to Bradford Council figures the number of vacant units was 65 in late 2009, or 14 per cent of the total number of shops.

In September 2008 the figure was 55 units were vacant out of 482 shop units in central Bradford.

That figure had risen to 69 by March last year but has since shown a modest fall.

Bradford Council and its partners are hopeful that the City Park, which is due for completion in the summer of 2011, after an 18-month building schedule, will provide a much-needed shot in the arm for city centre trading.

A spokeswoman said recently: "The park will be a catalyst for the creation of a high value business and financial services sector.

"It will attract visitors and investors, raise land values and help create the landscape for future investment. The park is a critical part of Bradford's regeneration.