Wednesday, February 24

Mini festivals could bring new life to Market Place

Tonight's meeting of the Cabinet (pictured above) is discussing a number of interesting items - perhaps the most important of them being the improvement of the Market Place.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to create something different for the town, and we hope that the £2 million that has been secured will not be wasted on doing something that is into the ordinary rather than out of it.
We've already mentioned the possibility of trying to give the Market Place a "look" to makes it resemble the area in its heyday - something that could be easily done by judicious use of signage and colours.
Having walked around the area a couple of times in recent days with the specific idea of taking in the so-called "ambiance," one of the things that strikes us most forcefully is the poor decorative state of many of the shops.
National outlets such as Edinburgh Woolen Mills, Carphone Warehouse, and Thorntons all present a run down look that we think they should feel ashamed of.
We wonder whether it is possible to impose some sort of condition on these places to force them to keep their shopfronts in good decorative order.
We also wish that it was possible to reject the clonetown shopfronts that make Boston indistinguishable and demand that something more substantial than just a grooved wooden frame is nailed around and below the window to give the illusion of age and substance.
The clone aspect is a serious one.
Hundreds of Market Places throughout the country pay the price of the "corporate identity" imposed on them by high street store chains, but there really seems no reason why this should be the case.
Other areas, which show more concern for the look of their town, refuse to let companies impose their one size fits all policy on the towns where they operate - and there is no reason why this could not happen in Boston.
An interesting report by local architects Anderson and Glenn, who have done some excellent work on refurbishment projects, paints a rather bleak picture when they illustrate how other market places in the area look.
We are worried that - at the end of the day - we will still end up with a glorified car park ... one that is marked out with stone blocks or cobbles rather than white lines, but nonetheless a car park.
One reason that tends to reinforce this fear is the collapse of the Merchants Quay project, which would have created a multi storey car park and taken the pressure of the Market Place.
Mention has been made of the Market Place as "an area to hold events" - and this is where we think there is scope for some really imaginative ideas to entertain residents and bring in visitors during the summer.
How about a series of two-day festivals through June, July, August and September?
A book festival, one for antiques, toys, horticulture, music - just to name a few?
Perhaps we could also consider the possibility of a decent farmers' market to replace the sorrowful offering that pitches up at present, and which shames a county that claims to feed the nation.
With a well constructed rolling calendar, Boston could offer something different to bring people to the town.
There is so much opportunity out there, and we just hope that those millions won't be squandered on a better looking car park than the one we have at present.

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