Plans to create “a boulevard of light” along the historic Lord Street in Southport is now past the halfway stage.
The whole of one side of the tree-lined town centre boulevard, which is home to scores of shops, bars, hotels and restaurants, is now complete with decorative lighting.
Visitors can see lights wrapped around trees from the Community Fire & Ambulance Station end towards The Ribble building end on the eastern side, with contractors now getting close to The Scarisbrick Hotel on the seaward side of the street.
The ambitious Southport Business Improvement District (Southport BID) project aims to create a dazzling outdoor environment and support the town’s thriving outdoor leisure culture.
When the work is completed, and lockdown measures are eased, it will make Lord Street a beautiful place to sit back and enjoy a meal, shop or share a drink with friends.
The initiative has been made possible thanks to funding from Southport BID with an additional £100,000 Acceleration Grant through the Southport Town Deal.
Southport BID CEO Rachel Fitzgerald said: “I am pleased to see that this ambitious project is now over halfway through, and people are now able to see Lord Street shining bright again.
“Lord Street is one of the most beautiful places in the UK. As lockdown eases and the weather gets a little warmer, I am looking forward to being able to see Lord Street full of shoppers, people dining outside, visitors enjoying drinks with friends.
Illumidex owner Steve Clayton said: “Now we are putting lights along both sides of Lord Street, it is forming a tunnel of light which looks fantastic. I can’t wait to see it all finished!
“I don’t know of anywhere else in the UK which is going to have a one mile shopping street like this containing 20 miles of lights with 300,000 bulbs wrapped around 80 trees.
“A lot of people are made up when they find out that we’re a Southport firm doing all this work, when they see the 01704 number on the side of our work vehicles.
“In this drab time of Covid, it is really brightening Southport up. Lord Street is really glowing at the moment. I would love to be able to see an aerial view of it all when it’s done!
“The lights are going to attract a lot of visitors because it gives a great feeling to the area. It is what Lord Street should look like.
“We started at the fire station end of Lord Street and then moved all the way down to the Morrisons end, wrapping around three trees each night. We are now coming back up the other side and hope to be completed in the next few weeks. The lockdown restrictions in place at the moment means that the town centre is much quieter than usual, so it’s easier for us to complete our work.
“We estimate we’re wrapping around three trees a night, putting around 30 sets of lights in each, depending on the size of the tree.
“The biggest tree we’ve wrapped so far was one next to the Town Hall Gardens, where we used 85 sets of lights. It’s so bright it lights up Southport Town Hall!
“By the time we’ve finished we will have used 3,000 set of lights in total, containing 300,000 bulbs. The lights that we’re installing now are a lot brighter than the previous ones.”
Sefton Council contractors helped by pruning the trees along Lord Street so the new lights could be installed.
Half moon discs, each containing a number, will be attached to each of boulevard’s 80 trees, so local business owners or members of the public can easily identify or report any trees where any issues may need addressing in the months ahead.
Southport BID has recently launched the new Southport Gift Card as a way of encouraging people to support local businesses. For more details please visit: https://southportbid.com/southport-gift-card/
For more details about Southport BID please visit their website at southportbid.com or southportindependents.co.uk and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Linked In on @southportBID
