AN eyesore will be transformed into an icon after Orange City Council signed off a new million dollar Bathurst Road neighbourhood shopping centre.
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Construction on the Colour City Market Place, to be built on the site of a disused nursery on the corner of Bathurst Road and Eyles Street, will begin by the middle of the year following Monday night’s unanimous approval by councillors.
The shopping centre will feature seven shops, cafes and restaurants surrounding a semi-enclosed forecourt.
An underground car park will accommodate 30 customer vehicles in addition to 19 above ground spaces.
Designed by Wayne Petrie, a former Queensland deputy government architect, the building is a relatively new concept for Orange.
“It’s going to be a kind of marker that identifies to drivers they are about to move into the central business district,” Mr Petrie said yesterday.
“Something like that just doesn’t exist at the moment.”
An initial development application for the shopping centre was not approved by Orange City Council because of the building’s design and lack of off-street parking spaces.
It prompted Street Smart Property to engage Mr Petrie to prepare the current design.
The new shopping centre will eliminate one of the many disused commercial sites that dot the city’s streetscape.
“The missing tooth in the streetscape is always identifiable and stands out as a bit of a mess and missed opportunity,” Mr Petrie said.
“This isn’t the only place in Orange like that, the main street has plenty of missing teeth.”
Street Smart Property managing director Jenny Atkinson said smaller neighbourhood convenience centres were more popular than ever.
“When you look at consumer spending, of the $100 spent every week the amount going into convenience and neighbourhood shopping centres like this is going up,” she said.
“People are looking for more intimacy and are getting it through neighbourhood shopping centres.”
Eagle Boys is the only confirmed tenant of the shopping centre.
bevan.shields@ruralpress.com