The new location of the Councillors offices in Civic Centre 3 means I have to walk across an area I have chosen to call the Civic Expanse of Doom. It is one of the most godforsaken places in the whole of Huddersfield Town Centre. It is the the polar opposite to St Georges Square. Its not the sort of place you would pass through by choice. If you're walking across 'the Expanse' you're either going to Court, the Job Centre or to see your local Councillor, so odds on you could be feeling pretty miserable in the first place.
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| Jakes Folly |
The complete and utter misery of the area was recognised in 2004 by local eccentric Jake Mangel -Wurzel who constructed his own 'Folly' contributing to the sheer awfulness of the area. I remember arguing at the time that it should remain until the Council did something to improve the area. So it is still there, a mocking monument to concrete desolation that is the Civic Expanse of Doom. What can we do with it? Well I'm sure the Council could throw loads of money at it and try and improve it but that is certainly not something I could advocate in these harsh times and anyway civic regeneration is what happens in London and isn't for the likes of us. One idea I had was to set up a game of 'Blockbusters' on the hexagon embedded squares which are bizarrely and frankly unattractively framed by concrete paving stones. This would be purely to highlight the sheer awfulness of the area and bring it to public attention.
What could be done with the area to lift it? We need ideas that have a low civic expense for the Civic
Expanse. A free market? some planters in the centre? a civic information board? places to sit? Come on people I'm doing all the thinking here? Ok that's off my chest I'll raise the subject again in 2024 when we can mark the 20th anniversary of 'Jakes Folly' or not!
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| Blockbusters anybody? |
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