Cultural and heritage projects

Hat trick for Leicester’s culture and heritage

Three exciting projects are set to change Leicester’s landscape and attract more visitors to the city centre. City Centre Director Sarah Harrison tells us more

Plans are in action for the completion of three significant city centre projects that, together, will increase Leicester’s appeal to visitors beyond the county. Works are underway to improve Jewry Wall, Phoenix cinema and art centre, and Leicester Cathedral. Here’s what’s happening.

JEWRY WALL

The Jewry Wall Museum and old Vaughan College complex is undergoing a major refurbishment to depict life at the centre of Roman Britain. Leicester was a key administrative Roman centre called Ratae Corieltavorum where the Fosse Way, running from Exeter to Lincoln, met the Via Devana running from Colchester to Chester. Ratae had a forum surrounded by shops, a basilica as its administrative centre, a market hall, impressive townhouses, substantial villas and temples. The remains of a very large public bath complex are still visible at Jewry Wall.

The museum building and former Vaughan College were built in 1962 by renowned architect Trevor Dannatt. The new museum will connect both floors that were previously separate and will include a café, shop, meeting rooms and a stunning new exhibition, all overlooking the historic site of the baths. The first phase of works underway now includes a walkway to provide level access from St Nicholas Circle straight into the centre. It amounts to a complete overhaul of the building, allowing for a new roof and other improvements. The new museum will be open to visitors in 2023.

As well as animating the site itself, the exhibition will use immersive technology to bring to life the stories of everyday Roman Leicester. Visitors will also be able to see the mosaics, wall plasters and other original objects found in the city and learn about the archaeological pioneers, including Kathleen Kenyon who first unearthed these amazing finds.

leicestermuseums.org/jewry-wall

HALEY SHARPE DESIGN (HSD)

VAN HEYNINGEN & HAWARD ARCHITECTS ARTIST IMPRESSION: VIEW OF NEW CHAPTER HOUSE FROM CATHEDRAL GARDENS

LEICESTER CATHEDRAL REVEALED

The project is now underway following a long and careful planning and design phase. It will restore and renew Leicester Cathedral so that it can be its very best as a place of worship, heritage, pilgrimage, hospitality, learning, sanctuary, and celebration. This is needed because the cathedral spaces are inflexible and inadequate for current and future use. The infrastructure – lighting, heating, and decorations – needs to be upgraded. And the tenfold increase in visitors, who come to see the tomb of King Richard III, has made the need more urgent.

‘Leicester Cathedral Revealed’ will put the building back into good order, create more space for learning, better manage visitor flow and improve the individual experience of being within the Cathedral. Repair and restoration works to the existing cathedral building include conservation of stonework, windows and ceilings, and installing a new stone floor level throughout, with energy-efficient underfloor heating.

The project will also construct a new visitor and

ARTIST IMPRESSION OF PHOENIX ROOF TERRACE ON UPPER FLOOR OF EXTENSION learning centre, The Chapter House, a striking extension to the cathedral on the footprint of the Old Song School, thereby preserving the open space of Cathedral Gardens. The Chapter House will provide an exhibition gallery with immersive interpretation, a flexible learning space for school children and community groups, and new toilet facilities.

Leicester Cathedral Revealed will realise the vision to restore the cathedral building, renew its sacred spaces, and reaffirm the cathedral’s place at the centre of a resurgent city and county.

leicestercathedral.org/leicester-cathedral-revealed

PHOENIX DEVELOPMENT GETS THE GREEN LIGHT

Despite the challenges of the past 18 months and delays caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, Leicester’s Phoenix cinema and art centre’s exciting multi-million-pound expansion project – known as ‘Phoenix 2020’ – has now got the green light for construction to begin.

Having moved to a purpose-built Cultural Quarter venue in 2009 from its previous Upper Brown Street location, Phoenix has developed a strong regional reputation as a hub for independent film and digital creativity, with a rich programme spanning film, art, and education.

Now, with funding support and investment from Arts Council England, Leicester City Council and British Film Institute, Phoenix is on the way to becoming a four-screen cinema, complete with a new art gallery, a bigger and better Café Bar, a stunning roof terrace and more spaces for making and learning.

After years of planning, design work and fundraising, the ambitious development project is finally on the verge of becoming a reality. Construction work is being undertaken by Willmott Dixon and is scheduled to last for around 12-15 months. The venue will remain open to the public for as long as possible during the build, and the new screens, gallery, café bar, roof terrace, and learning spaces will be unveiled in early 2023.

phoenix.org.uk