St James’ Square is a major enhancement to a key public space in Grimsby town centre and the town centre’s only green open space. This will see the provision of infrastructure that can host captivating outdoor events. The space will create a tiered area, effectively forming a natural auditorium, with the Labyrinth being the centre-point of the square. It will also include considerations on accessibility, lighting, electricity supply and sound amplification. The construction and lighting and electrical infrastructure is being carried out by C R Reynolds and McCann respectively.
Artists’ work, demonstrating Grimsby’s heritage and people will be incorporated into the physical features of the design, including benches, bins, tiered landscape, seating and brickwork around the Square. The public art commissioning contract was awarded to Grimsby creative organisation, Our Big Picture Ltd. who placed a call-out for creatives to submit brief proposals for public art work. From this, international contemporary artist Annabel McCourt from Grimsby and national designer-artist Adrian Riley, based in Scarborough were chosen to collaborate with each other on developing their submissions into artforms. This includes engagement with Grimsby residents and consideration of the link to local heritage with public artwork forming an integral part of the space.
St James’ Square will also form an attractive starting point of a new Grimsby Heritage Trail. This will provide participants with an opportunity to become absorbed in key heritage spaces that the town has to offer via maps, wayfinding and digital platforms.
