Developers have promised to give Preston the 'very best' as the long-awaited Tithebarn dream was unveiled.
Building work on Preston's £700million rebirth is set to start in little more than two years.
This exclusive image shows how the eagerly anticipated Tithebarn regeneration project will transform the city centre when it opens in Spring 2014.
On Saturday, the project's information office opened on Lancaster Road giving people the chance to view the plans and comment on them.
What do you think? Leave your comments belowRelated stories>> Tithebarn to rekindle historic cityThe Evening Post can also reveal that talks have started to bring a light railway to the city, running passengers from the city's docklands up to the train station.
Project director Anthony Gill, of developers The Preston Tithebarn Partnership (PTP), said that work will start by the summer of 2010 and expected to take three-and-a-half years to complete.
He said: "It is a city centre development and a huge responsibility and massive investment for us as a developer, our reputation is at stake and we promise to give Preston the very best.
"We would expect to have a planning application in by September this year and following a prompt conclusion we would look to have the bulldozers in and people on site by mid-2010."
Preston Council leader Ken Hudson said that there would be more than 20,000 spaces created at Park and Ride points across the city with the site on Riversway linked to the train station by light rail.
Council chief executive Jim Carr said: "There is an existing light railway network running from the city's docks which we will utilise to bring people up to the train station.
"We need to negotiate changes with Virgin Trains about creating a passenger terminal at the station and those talks are underway.
"That will be an exciting development to bring people into the city centre."
The developers revealed they already own 80% of the site and are planning to start buying up the rest of the land by winter 2008 with a public inquiry into the scheme expected to take place next Spring.
Mr Gill said that delays in securing John Lewis as a flagship store and over securing the site for the new bus station were behind a decade of the project being stalled.
PTP director Richard Coppell said that seven different architects, including the Paris office of masterplanners Building Design Partnership (BDP), were already on board to created a range of different-looking buildings across the site.
He said: "It will look like many hands have been at work over many years rather than creating one great monolith."
The 32-acre site which will dominate the future of city centre will include:
• more than 100 shops,
• 400 city centre flats,
• a multi-screen cinema,
• 30 new restaurants,
• cafes and bars,
• parks and public squares,
• a massive John Lewis department store,
• a number of new roads. TIMETABLE FOR ACTION May 2008 - Public consultation begins;
Autumn 2008 - Planning application submitted;
Winter 2008 - Planning permission granted and deals completed to buy up land;
Spring 2009 - (possible) Public inquiry into Compulsory Purchase Orders;
2009 - Consultation starts on detailed design;
2009 - Detailed plans are submitted;
Summer 2010 - Construction starts;
Spring 2014 - Tithebarn opens.
SEE The Evening Post on Monday for the results of our survey on whether you think Tithebarn is the way forward for Preston>> Vote in our latest web poll
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