WORK on St George’s Square is expected to begin in a matter of days.
A Kirklees Council spokesman confirmed yesterday that the £3.1m revamp will start this month.
The new-look square, featuring fountains and planted terraces, should be finished by the end of the year.
The revamp was approved by Kirklees Council early last year after public consultation.
More than 2,400 people voted on three proposed plans. The design, by landscape architects Whitelaw Turkington, triumphed with 67% of the vote.
The plan includes a £200,000 water feature.
The roundabout between the George Hotel and Britannia Buildings will be replaced by a piazza designed to stage outdoor events for up to 10,000 spectators.
When the work is completed, only buses, taxis and delivery vehicles will be able to travel between Railway Street and John William Street. Bus stops will also be moved closer to the train station.
Parking spaces will remain the same and the whole area will be landscaped.
The repositioning of the statue of Harold Wilson had been a point of contention.
Kirklees originally wanted to move the tribute to the Huddersfield-born Prime Minister to a small island near bus stops and taxi stands outside the Head of Steam pub.
But the council scrapped the plan last December (2007) after opposition from Lord Wilson’s widow Lady Mary and Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman.
The statue will remain roughly where it is, but may be moved slightly towards the train station.
The whole plan, to spend millions of pounds on the revamp of the square, which is lined with some of Huddersfield’s most impressive buildings, has been the subject of criticism in some quarters but others have welcomed the idea.
