A first glimpse of what a refurbished railway station for Lowestoft could look like has been revealed.
A "steady flow" of people turned out on Thursday, August 25, to view proposals for the redevelopment of a derelict part of the station building as East Suffolk Council held a consultation event.
With views on the proposed designs being sought to help inform the final plans, a scheme of works would see the building brought back into full use to provide a restaurant, café and flexible workspace.
The public consultation event at East Point Pavilion showcased proposals "to redevelop the Refreshments Building at Lowestoft Railway Station", as East Suffolk Council leads on the project in partnership with Network Rail, Railway Heritage Trust and Greater Anglia.
Information displayed at the event stated: "The last building at the station to be regenerated is the Refreshments Building, which has stood derelict for the last 50 years.
"Feasibility studies undertaken by LDA Design and QuarterBridge Project Management Ltd identified that the building would be most suited to providing a food and beverage offer, aligned with the Local Plan for this area.
"In response, East Suffolk Council commissioned Ipswich based Architects, KLH, to reimagine the building for present day use."
According to the consultation, if the scheme is approved it is anticipated that the building would open in 2024.
Among those attending the consultation event was Craig Rivett, deputy leader and cabinet member for economic development.
He said: "I think it is an exciting project which I hope everybody feeds into with their thoughts during the consultation period.
"This station proposal joins some of the projects that are to come and those which are going on.
"It will be a good use for the building as well because it has sat empty for a long time, it will be good to see it back into use."
Councillor Peter Byatt said: "I’m very pleased to see the proposals are for the station to form the centre part of the Station Quarter and to make sure that we continue to use this very valuable building that has been a significant part of the Lowestoft for a number of years.
"Lowestoft is one of the few towns in this country where you can step from the railway station and be in the town centre.
"So, if we can eventually get to having a traffic-free Station Square that would be ideal but this is the beginning.
"I think the railway building should be the focus of when people arrive in Lowestoft.
"We have got a public transport interchange there and we can expand that."
Richard Best, from East Suffolk Council, added: "We’ve had a steady flow of the public coming in to view the plans and to look at the proposed details of this building.
"We’re also running a two-week online consultation as well for people who can’t get to the event today so they can look at the plans and proposals and comment online.
"The plans show that we’re fully intending to restore the building back to its historic traditional appearance.
"That’s the main purpose of this but in addition we need to extend the building to provide more café/restaurant space opportunity, for that purpose we’re looking to use and extend the roof.
"What we’ve been quite keen to do is to restore the historic building back to its original glory but then rather than try to mimic Victorian design we’re looking to offer something contemporary contrasting with that extension.
"So, the two work well together.
"We’re keen to see the public's view on the proposals, it’s ambitious for Lowestoft, it’s certainly attracting interest as we’ve seen from the national press recently and we’re trying to increase footfall interest in the town that brings forward increased business that brings forward jobs and recovery of the high street."
With an online consultation now open, copies are also available by post, by emailing economicregen@eastsuffolk.gov.uk or call East Suffolk Council’s Customer Service Centre on 0333 016 2000.
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