Gloucester City Council has announced a bid for £12.5 million of Levelling Up Funding for an ambitious new scheme to transform the area around the Eastgate Shopping Centre into a vibrant new garden quarter.

The plans for the Greyfriars Quarter will see part of the shopping centre including the market hall refurbished ​and repurposed and spaces constructed for community activities, a new market and foodhall, as well as a park and gardens, all set within the grounds of the 13th century Greyfriars monastery.

If successful, the bid would enable the market hall to be ​relocated to another part of the Eastgate Shopping centre, with a contemporary new design that would see it open up onto a landscaped courtyard garden

The current market hall would be revamped to house a multi-purpose performance space for dance, music, fitness, cinema, community and leisure events.

It would be linked to a unique covered outdoor space with an orangery and outdoor dining area within the remains of the beautiful Greyfriars Monastery.

The plan also includes a proposal to create serviced apartments, providing a unique place to stay and the creation of flexible workspaces within the refurbished 18th century house adjacent to the friary. 

The exciting new scheme would also see the construction of a new urban park, outdoor gym, play area and cycle hub.

The bid follows the council’s previous successful bid to the Government’s Levelling Up fund last year, which saw it successfully granted £20 million. 

It will enable the redevelopment of the University of Gloucestershire City Centre Campus in the former Debenhams, the renovation of the Fleece Hotel and creation of The Forge, a digital hub aimed at the cyber and knowledge economy as part of the £107 Forum development. 

The bid is also in addition to the £1.5m UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation to the city, which will be primarily used to support communities and place around the wider city area.