£3m centre is unveiled
The wraps have been taken off a new multi-million pound shopping and apartment complex in Hednesford just weeks before it is due to open to the public.
The Express & Star has been given exclusive access inside the new £3 million Lightworks building on Market Street, which will officially open later this month on April 23, St George's Day.
The shopping arcade has taken three years to develop and is the first of three major regeneration schemes set to be delivered in Hednesford.
The Lightworks, built on the site of the former Lucas Lighting Factory, is made up of a modern shopping arcade with shops, cafes, restaurants, a museum as well as 19 one-bedroom loft apartments.
Negotiations are continuing with potential businesses looking to move in to the arcade which has been designed to reflect the art deco style of the 1930's, the heyday of the Lucas Lighting company.
Among businesses set to move in to the building include two eastern or oriental restaurants, clothing shops for women and children, a cafe, a music shop and a health and wellbeing centre featuring a dentist, optician, chiropractor and chiropodist.
The loft apartments are all aimed at single people or couples and are provided fully-furnished for a rent of approximately £500 including a cleaning service each week.
Developer Fred Pritchard is also planning to house a museum area at the back of the arcade featuring historical displays on notable Staffordshire families. The museum will also feature cars from Mr Pritchard's collection including his James Bond Aston Martin.
The 66-year-old business leader said: "Hednesford has been stagnating for years and it needs something like this to move the town forward. I have had to be pioneering."
