Grand £5.2m revamp plans to ensure bright future for Bilston market
There's a bright future in store for a city market after plans were unveiled for a multi-million-pound refurbishment project.
Bilston Indoor Market is celebrating its 50th birthday at the weekend, but Wolverhampton Council is already looking ahead to the future and creating a modern market and events venue.
It is investing £5.2 million from the Towns Fund into enhancing the environmental quality and updating the dated outside market area, as well as creating a flexible space to host and bring in events.
The plans would include the building of an enormous canopy cover spanning from the exit of the Indoor Market across the area of the outdoor area and which would provide a cover for all traders and customers.
Wolverhampton Council Markets General Manager Joanne Huntbatch said the plans were very exciting and spoke of wanting to ensure the market was a place people could enjoy a day out at.
She said: "A lot of the focus is on the outdoor area as that has become a bit tired and dated and it needs a bit of work to keep it thriving for the next 200 years, so we have the grand plans with the canopy cover to cover all the stalls.
"We also plan to have a flexible space where we can host events, as that is something we've struggled to do previously, due to the footprint of the area, so it will allow us to bring events in, as well as additional retail units.
"Markets are a destination and people don't just want to come and shop as they want to enjoy the atmosphere and sit down for a cup of tea and that's what we want to do to help people come here and enjoy themselves."
