The £1.5 million redevelopment of a Perth city centre road has won a major national award.
Perth and Kinross Council’s seven-figure regeneration project of the city’s Mill Street cultural quarter won the Great Street prize at the 2022 Urbanism Awards.
Organised by the Academy of Urbanism, the awards recognise “the best, most enduring or most improved urban environments”.
Tayside engineering firm Kilmac was heavily involved with the project.
Managing director Athole McDonald said the “prestigious accolade” was great news for everyone involved.
Mr McDonald said: “As the main contractor, the Kilmac team was involved with the ambitious cultural development linking Perth Theatre and the Concert Hall from start to finish.
“As someone who has lived in Perth all my days, I must admit there was an element of pressure to ensure we got it right.
“Many of the team on the project live in the Perth area. I know they take pride in the way it all came together.
“It was a high-profile development – like the current project we are involved with to create the Perth Museum.
“I’m delighted that Perth and Kinross Council has been awarded the Great Street Award.”
Mill Street redevelopment project
Other locations nominated for the Great Street Award were Barnes High Street in London and Solar Avenue in Leeds.
Mill Street was originally a back lane inside, and adjacent to, medieval Perth’s city walls.
Before its redevelopment it had become a “back door” for shops and other premises on the High Street, used primarily for deliveries and bins.
In 2014, the local authority agreed to an ambitious plan to create a new “cultural quarter” in the city centre.
It connects the remodelled Perth Theatre, Perth Concert Hall and the Museum and Art Gallery and would revitalise the city centre.
Horsecross Plaza, outside the Concert Hall, also provides a venue for outdoor events.
The vennels connections Mill Street to the High Street, – Skinnergate, Guard and Cutlog, were also improved.
Success hailed for Perth project
Councillor Andrew Parrott, convenor of the council’s environment, infrastructure and economic development committee, attended the awards ceremony.
He said: “The creation of a cultural quarter in Mill Street has been so successful it can be hard to remember what the street was like before.
“Its transformation has created a public space that is not only more attractive, but also more inclusive and welcoming for our residents and visitors.”
