Destination Douglas phase one to begin

The regeneration of Douglas town centre is soon to begin in earnest.

Trial work will commence on Nelson Street in the course of June, with full-scale work beginning soon after, making it the first of the town’s thoroughfares to be transformed as part of an overall scheme, branded Destination Douglas, to which Douglas Borough Council has committed £2 million.

Bright future for North Quay

Work to illuminate two landmarks on Douglas’s North Quay – the stainless steel Prow sculpture and St Matthew’s Church – has been completed.

Development manager Chris Pycroft of Douglas Development Partnership, the funding body for the scheme, explained: ‘At its former site in Villiers Square the sculpture, which is designed to resemble the ceremonial prow of a Viking ship, was lit and now it has a more prominent location on the North Quay, one that better reflects the Island’s Viking, Norse and maritime connections, it is only fitting the Prow should be given a heightened profile.

 ‘One of the lighting recommendations in the Douglas quayside lighting strategy was to use projected light to highlight architectural features. We explored a number of ways to bring a sense of drama to the sculpture at night and the scheme we chose uses LED spotlights combined with lights fixed to an adjacent lamppost that project patterns of water rippling down the Prow to create “pools” on the walkway at its base.

 ‘Lighting St Matthew’s had long been an objective in the North Quay regeneration lighting strategy as the church is an important landmark, visible from the South Quay approach into Douglas. The low-wattage lighting scheme uses two tones of white light - “cooler” white for the stonework, “warmer” for the sandstone - to highlight the building’s architectural features such as the arches and internal angles of the buttresses and has been achieved in such a way that no light spills into the sky at night.

Capital newsletter now available

The latest issue of Capital, the newsletter of Douglas Development Partnership, is now available, featuring news of Destination Douglas town centre regeneration projects and a range of other initiatives helping to improve the image and environment of the Island’s capital. A copy of Capital can be viewed here.

Real McCoy’ markets planned for North Quay

Douglas’s North Quay will be the setting for outdoor markets in July, August and October.

The events build on the success of last year’s summer and Christmas markets and will take place on Saturday July 30, August 27 and October 1 from 10am to 6pm.

Supported by Douglas Development Partnership and Douglas Borough Council, the markets are being co-ordinated by Chris Carr who said: ‘These are the original “real McCoy” Douglas markets and, building on the success of last year’s markets, are set to be even bigger and better, not least because they’ll be taking place along the full length of North Quay, from the Clarendon right up to the junction with Quine’s Corner. The regenerated North Quay is proving a fantastic setting for outdoor events so for these markets we’re looking to create a real party atmosphere.’