Work begins on $12m upgrade on The Corso
HOARDINGS have gone up on Manly’s famed Corso as work begins on a $12 million refit of seven shops as well as a 180-seat auditorium for St Matthew’s Church.
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HOARDINGS have gone up on The Corso as work begins on a $12 million refit of seven shops as well as a 180-seat auditorium for St Matthew’s Church.
The busy pedestrian strip will have 6m hoarding from the front of St Matthew’s Church, narrowing to about 4m from the front of the church-owned row of shops, ending at Humphreys, to allow trucks to come and go.
Archbishop Glenn Davies knocked out the first brick at the launch of the works.
In addition to the retail refit at ground level, a basement will be built under the shops and a second floor will be built above the shops that will not be visible from The Corso.
This will create room for a multi-use, 180-seat auditorium with kitchen and cafe facilities.
The current first floor will undergo a refit with new kitchen facilities, a row of flexible classrooms and a large space.
The basement will be used for storage.
Church spokesman Tim Evans acknowledged the project would be “logistically difficult” and have a “huge impact” on The Corso.
“We are conscious that having such a substantial hoarding is going to be disruptive for a period of time and that other retailers are concerned about that,” Mr Evans said.
“We are doing everything we can to minimise that but the bottom line is that it needs to be done and we have to do it.”
A previous plan to avoid disruption on The Corso by using a crane to lift material over the church and onto the landlocked site was dismissed due to safety reasons.