£5m revamp for West Bromwich shopping centre

West Bromwich's rundown Queen's Square Shopping Centre is set to get a brand new look as part of a £5 million overhaul announced today.

New entrances will be built at the centre on the High Street and adjacent to The Public arts centre to tie in with the £200m Tesco regeneration scheme.

The works include replacing the leaky roof, new lighting and refurbishing public toilets.

New escalators will be installed and shop fronts will be updated.

Staircases to the adjacent 850-space car park will be overhauled. Repairs will also be carried out to the mall floor and ceilings will be replaced and the mall's fire protection system will be improved with sprinklers installed.

Sandwell Council will half-fund the scheme and the other half will be met by Fairacre Asset Management which runs the centre.

It was originally believed the refurbishment would cost in the region of £750,000 and the cost would solely be covered by the authority.

But Councillor Steve Eling, the authority's deputy leader and finance chief, said today: "There is a proposal for a joint-funded approach to the centre.

"We've released £750,000 towards the centre already but a business case has not yet been approved for £2.5m to be released, but I will give it proper consideration when it is presented to me.

"We want to see Queen's Square as part of a prosperous West Bromwich."

Tender documents are hoped to be ready during February, when council bosses will decide between four developers for the work.

The investment comes as the 1960s shopping centre is only half let – with just 33 of the 61 units filled.

Leigh Perl, partner at Fairacre which manages Queens Square Shopping Centre, said: "The road back to recovery has started now that Tesco is starting works – that's exactly the shot in the arm the town needed."