Morris Dancers mark the end of Church Street podium
The Mersey Morris Men took to the Church Street podium to celebrate May Day marking the very last entertainment there before the major improvement works began.
The dancers performed on 1st May as Morris Dancers around the world continued the May Day tradition of celebrating Spring Time which began in the 13th Century.
The podium is being removed as part of the £5.5 million scheme to regenerate this key retail area and the area will be opened up to create a larger events space with seating and pop up power supplies.
The works begin in mid May and are part of the City Centre Movement Strategy, a £73 million scheme to improve the roads and public areas of Liverpool city centre, implemented by partners Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision, and Merseytravel.
With funding from Liverpool City Council, the NorthWest Development Agency, the European Regional Development Fund, and Cityfocus, the scheme will improve pedestrian areas with high quality granite paving being laid, new street lighting and new street furniture, (benches and litter bins), installed as well as the planting of 33 mature new trees.
The Business Improvement District has arranged for the morris dancing event and they have been working very closely with Liverpool City Council to ensure all the retailers and businesses in the area are fully consulted on all aspects of the improvement works.
Carl Speight, General Manager of the Business Improvement District, said: "The Mersey Morris Men have been booked as part of our programme to animate this area of the city centre. We are now looking forward to the improvement works beginning to upgrade the heart of our retail area."
(Originally released 29th April, 2006. Some text has been altered to past tense)