As somebody once told me, progress will start to be seen at the Abbey Shopping Centre in August.
Most of the framework for the new fashion shops was put up today.
Remaining shops, including Thomas Cook, the travel experts, are open as usual – protected by scaffolding and hoardings.
There is currently a planning application to split what was “Stroll In” in two. “Stroll In” closed in Februray 2011 and has been empty since.
The architect planning the changes argues that before about the 1970s, when some major structural alterations were made to remove walls and replace them with beams and pillars, there were two shops on this site – one with a frontage on Stert Street, one on the Market Place.
“Stroll In” did always seem an odd shape and that could explain it.
The upstairs space will also be divided into five apartments. Although there is no on street parking, more cycle storage will be provided, and tenants may be able to apply to join the Vale of White Horse Residents Parking Scheme using the Cattle Market and Abbey Meadow Car Parks.
Looking down on the Old Gaol it appears that about half the flat roofs on the new build will have vegetation. The Old Gaol website says, in the sustainability section “Sustainability features include: Green roof technology on some buildings to reduce annual water run-off by at least 50% …”.
The statue of Queen Victoria erected in Abingdon in 1887 to mark the Golden Jubilee was moved to the Abbey Gardens in the 1940s. The statue started life in the centre of a lot of buildings, and now has a more leafy outlook.
But in 2012 there are new buildings in front of her on the other side of the fence.
This must be the last plot of land in the town centre to be built upon. It is to be a large home that will care for the elderly.