Rebranding Kirkcaldy’s Esplanade as the town’s Waterfront could be the key to a tourist influx, it has been claimed.
Councillor Neil Crooks, the chair of the Kirkcaldy area committee, has suggested the change to market the Lang Toun to visitors.
Pointing to the success of Dundee’s Waterfront project in stimulating the city, he has also pitched a transformation of the Esplanade Car Park as Wide Bay Waterfront Car Park.
Mr Crooks has made the suggestion to the Kirkcaldy Ambitions group and said that tapping into developments in Dundee, which is undergoing a multi-million pound transformation, should inspire events on the banks of the Forth.
“It is a branding thing and we need to be smarter in how we market Kirkcaldy,” he said.
“It was the V&A museum that has made the idea in Dundee fly, but we need to do what we can within the confines of what we have here.
“If we are to attract tourists then the term ‘Waterfront’ tells people a lot more about the area than ‘Esplanade’.”
Mr Crooks also believes changing the name of the unloved Esplanade Car Park may encourage more people to use it.
He continued: “The Wide Bay Waterfront Car Park would work for the Esplanade Car Park. It is probably the only wide bay car park in the country.”
Meanwhile, Mr Crooks has hailed the impact that recent changes to the town centre road network have had.
A new stretch of road has been established to connect the waterfront with Charlotte Street in a bid to encourage more vehicles into the High Street.
While Mr Crooks wants new signs to be installed, highlighting some of the options now available to drivers, he said that the initial feedback to the works had been positive.
“The idea behind opening it up was primarily to expose the existence of our two multi-storey car parks and the parking near the waterfront, which was hidden by walls,” he said.
“We also wanted better connectivity between the Waterfront and High Street areas.
“We need new signage because of the change and I am currently chasing this up.
“This junction would be better for Adam Smith Theatre and The Galleries, for example, which currently share a sign for the Beveridge Park at the foot of Nicol Street.”
