Leicester Square will reopen today after a £15.3 million transformation – covered in thousands of granite slabs imported from China.
The home of UK premieres - Leicester Square Cinema - has received a comprehensive facelift ahead of the Olympics and just in time to welcome Hollywood royalty to promote the latest blockbusters.
Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron are expected for the premiere of Prometheus toorrow week while The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone amnd Rhys Ifans, opens on June 18.
The first premiere in the new square will be tomorrow with Tortoise in Love, the “home grown” romantic comedy featuring a cameo role by culture minister Ed Vaizey.
The project, carried out by SIAC Construction, has involved using 150,000 granite blocks in 17 different sizes to replace every paving stone in the square, with a “ribbon” seating area bordering the central gardens in white granite.
A special coating will be applied to the granite to make it easier to remove chewing gum . Council wardens will ensure the gardens, which are locked every evening, are respected by all users. Alcohol and ball games are banned.
New polished steel railings have replaced Victotian-style black railings around the gardens, the lawn are has been relaid with hard-wearing grass and the gardens planted with 6,000 hedge plants and 1,700 ornamental plants. Fourty water jets have been placed around the Grade II-listed fountain and statue of Willian Shakespeare. New lighting has been introduced, the underground public lavatories have been renovated and the glockenspiel saved from the Swiss Centre has its own plinth.
TV crews covering film premeieres will be able to plug into underground canles to prevent the square being filled with satellite trucks. The aim has been to remove the cluter and create and open space better to handle the 240,000 visitors the square recieves each day.
London Mayor Boris Johnson will unveil the new layout this evening, along with the refurbished Leicester Square Hotels website. Please check it out and see what you think of the new design.
The 17-month scheme was first envisaged by Westminster council a decade ago and took three attempts to get off the starting blocks. The final stage will be re-building the ticket booth
Robert Davis, Westminser's deputy leader, said:” I think it's absolutely superb. It's designed for the film industry, it's designed for the theatreland, and it's designed for people who want a quiet time to sit and reflect.
“Central London deserves a state-of -the-art cultral destination and we hope Londoners and visitors alike will be impressed with the results.”