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Water of life for Marble Arch
Ruth Bloomfield09.04.09
MARBLE ARCH is to be turned into a “beauty spot” with fountains and lights.
Westminster council today unveiled plans for a £1.5 million renovation of the arch, which was built in 1828 as a gateway to Buckingham Palace but is now surrounded by traffic.
The three bronze fountains beside the landmark have been out of commission for 10 years but will be repaired.
A coloured lighting system will be installed to highlight the arch and the soaring needle jets of water.
The project also includes planting, restoration of the west lawn beside Marble Arch, improvements to the east lawn and new benches for tourists and shoppers.
Transport for London is replacing all but one of the subways that criss-cross beneath the area with pedestrian crossings. Colin Barrow, leader of Westminster council, said he was horrified the arch was in such poor condition.
“A year ago what you had there were some condemned subways, some fountains that didn't work, and there was a certain amount of graffiti about. This is an iconic space. It would not have been allowed to happen in Paris.
“This is going to create an area that people will actually be able to stop in, rather than somewhere you just walked beneath,” said Mr Barrow.
Upgrading the traffic islands has been a priority for politicians for decades, and a series of schemes have been put forward to regenerate the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane and Edgware Road.
Two years ago TfL confirmed it was considering moving the arch to Hyde Park and in 2004 architects John McAslan and Partners drew up a £40 million plan to upgrade it.
The proposal, linked to the now-defunct plan to run trams on Oxford Street, advocated pedestrianising part of the junction, turning the roundabout into a tram terminus, and knocking down Sixties blocks on its north side.
Mr Barrow said the current scheme, while less ambitious, had the advantage of being achievable in an economic downturn.
“In this world — rather than the world that existed two years ago — I believe that people are more interested in seeing actual delivery rather than aspiration,” he said.
“They would rather have something done well and done now than something that is only ever going to be an aspiration.”
Marble Arch was designed by John Nash and based on the triumphal Arch of Constantine in Rome.
It was originally erected on The Mall but was moved in 1851.
Legend has it that the reason for the move was because it was too narrow for Queen Victoria's state coach to pass through. The fountains were installed in the early Sixties but have been out of service for a decade and in 2003 were filled with soil and turned into giant planters to disguise them.
The scheme has the approval of English Heritage and works will be completed by June.
The Fountain Society is lobbying for a new fountain at Marble Arch which would name every British Olympic medallist since 1896.
It is running a competition to design a feature to celebrate about 700 Olympic and Paralympic heroes.
Its plans are supported by Westminster and the British Olympic and Paralympic associations.
Reader views (9)
Just another way to waste Londons precious water supply,can't you all just leave London alone and get on with your lives,and not keep thinking up stupid ideas.
- David., Chertsey.UK.
Phil Jones - Cities are for people not cars and the sooner that is realised the better the lives of the millions of people who outnumber cars many times over in Central London.
Its cars and traffic that should be put in Tunnels with the surface free for people. Perhaps its time to start to bury roads and release the space for bus/tram ways and pedestians and cyclists only.
Subways only work when they are on a grand scale and connected to transport interchanges at places like Canary Whalf.
Crossrail could provide an opportunity to link shops and stores along Oxford Street to the stations. Something Mr Selfridge wanted to do when he built his store but was prevented from doing!!
Trams still provide the only option for Oxford Street and revelutionary systems like the new one (recently featured in Modern Railways) that uses eltro-magnetic forces to pick up electricity without overhead wires or 3rd rails need to be investigated.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
About 20 years ago around 5.30 pm I was driving North on Charing Cross just south of shaftesbury avenue when the traffic stopped, an hour later I got out of my car and sat at the outside table of a convenient cafe 20 yards away. After a very leisurely dinner and several coffees I noticed that the traffic up the road was moving. It was now 10.30 pm. The biggest snarl-up in Londons history was caused by.... the traffic light's going out at Marble Arch. The police had to block all major routes in to central london. I hope some of the planners reflect on this before messing up the traffic flows there.
- Douglas, London
Those subways under the Arch are the scariest in London & reminds me of "Clockwork Orange"
- Jon, London
Westminster are to be congratulated - this was an eyesore with pedestrians forced to tunnel under ground like rats. Reconnecting the Marble Arch island with the park is a great idea.
- Thomas, London
An excellent scheme and a credit to Westminster City Council and all involved. An unkempt urban environment can only get worse the longer it is left - if only enough recourses I made available to complete one job at a time to avoid a 30-mile wide building site.
- Peter Seekings-Foster, Mildenhall, Suffolk.
The pedestrian subways provide a very effective way of getting people across the very busy roads and also into the park. It would be a huge mistake to destroy them. Having pedestrians crossing at streat level will tie up both the pedestrians and the traffic. Sometimes very large numbers of people are entering the park, and to have them standing on the pavements waiting for traffic lights would block other pedestrians and also be unsafe in view of the heavy traffic.
- Phil Jones, London UK
A fountain with Olympic medalists names on is a good idea but not for Marble Arch.
Stratford and the Olympic park would be better place for that plan.
- Mr S.Port, London
What for? waste of money!!
- Peter Noterfed, Paris, France
