Firm sought for £315k site investigations to pave way for Shrewsbury Riverside redevelopment
A firm is being sought for a £315,000 contract to start investigation work ahead of the major redevelopment of Shrewsbury's Riverside.
Last week Shropshire Council announced significant developments in its ambitious bid to re-shape the Riverside and Smithfield areas of the town with the submission of a planning application for the first phase of work.
The application seeks permission to demolish the Riverside Shopping Centre as well as the walkways and bridges between the building and the Raven Meadows multi-storey car park and the Darwin Centre.
It looks to create a new public park next to Roushill, with the application explaining it will be made up of a series of pocket gardens, event space and an amphitheatre, with an accessible ramp, lift and staircase.
The council has said that flood attenuation will be provided under the new park, and that there will be "opportunities for temporary meanwhile uses, which could include pop-up cafés, shops or further open space in the park and the remainder of the site following demolition".
A further element of the application is to relocate both the Riverside and Raven Meadow substations.
The application is the first stage in an overall plan to redevelop the entire site, creating offices, new homes and a leisure development with restaurants and a cinema.
The next planning application is expected in the new year.
Now the council has also issued a tender for a contract worth up to £315,000 for the ground investigation work needed ahead of any physical work taking place.
The council said the work is required to understand the nature of the ground conditions underneath the site.
The tender says it needs a firm to carry out "an intrusive site investigation to establish the geotechnical, geo-environmental and chemical properties of the ground conditions under the proposed Smithfield Riverside project in Shrewsbury".
It adds that the work will need to take place "over a number of locations around the former Riverside shopping centre and surrounds".
The work requires drilling a number of boreholes to allow engineers to assess the conditions below the surface.
The deadline for submissions for the work is January 26.
