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Rebirth of a market

Sue Carr
15/12/2004

A MULTI-MILLION pound plan to rebuild Ashton Market Hall was unveiled this week.

Just seven months after fire devastated the indoor market, Tameside Council has revealed a £15m design to redevelop the Grade Two listed hall and market ground.

The design, by award-winning London-based architects Patel Taylor, will keep the traditional red brick frontage and clock tower and open up more of the arched entrances.

But it also includes more modern features such as glazed roofs over both the indoor and outdoor markets to give them a more open and continental feel. It is hoped it will be completed in three years time.

The full plans will go on show in April/May - the start of a full public consultation lasting more than a year to find out what the people of Tameside think.

Councillor Kieran Quinn, cabinet deputy for economic services, said: "Ashton is a people's market. It's the third most popular market and the third most popular town in the north west and everyone knows what devastation the fire caused."

He added: "The very first thing we had to do was to get the traders back trading and we've done what we promised.

"But there is a lot of goodwill out there and we want to maintain that by taking this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and showing people what can be done.

"The outdoor market has been included in the design and we are also looking at ways to redevelop other areas."

Fire investigators say the 'most probable' cause of the fire was an electrical fault in an old appliance.

It is thought insurers will pay out around half the cash and the council hopes to find the remainder from external bodies such as the National Lottery and the European Union.

Plans for the temporary Phoenix Market Hall have yet to be decided.