PLANNERS have been asked to back a bright idea for St George’s Square.
Kirklees Council wants to illuminate the historic architecture of the Grade 1 listed Huddersfield Railway Station.
Planners will decide next week if 26 lights can be installed at the station entrance. The council believes the illuminations will display the features of the Victorian station.
The proposal includes lighting up the entrance portico with eight fittings. Five of these lights would be used to bathe the roof in a warm white glow, while the other three would shine downwards from the roof.
Another 16 lights would be used to illuminate the walls of the colonnades on either side of the door.
Two spotlights would be fixed to the triangular stone work above the door.
The lights would be fitted with sensors which would automatically turn them on at dusk. The lights would be dimmed at 1am each night and would be turned off at dawn.
The council’s Huddersfield Planning Sub-committee will rule on the application next Thursday . Kirklees officers have recommended that councillors send the plan to the Government for approval.
Huddersfield Civic Society has welcomed the plan, but criticised the fact that the pubs at either end of the station have not been included. The Head of Steam and the King’s Head were once ticket offices.
A society spokesman said: “The two wings were designed as booking offices for the two railway companies who built the station. They form an original and integral part of the design and should be illuminated along with the portico, entrance and colonnades in order to maintain the integrity of the facade as a whole.”
Planning applications to illuminate the other historic buildings in St George’s Square – Lion Chambers, Britannia Buildings and the George Hotel – are in the pipeline.
The new-look St George’s Square was unveiled last year after a controversial £4m refit which included the use of pink Chinese granite.
