There can
be no doubt that Leicester Square needed a make over. Despite being
the go to location for just about every major UK film premiere, and despite
being dominated by the art deco splendour of the Odeon cinema, the square itself
was run down, scruffy and down right seedy. Now, there is not too much wrong
with seedy, it does tend to go hand in
hand with areas of entertainment like the Square, but the powers that be
obviously decided that something needed to be done and in December 2010 work
commenced on a complete revamp.
As Dylan
Thomas once said “time passes”, and I found myself wandering and wondering
thorough the square. Wandering because that’s what I do and wondering, not for
the first time, if it would ever be finished. The hoardings declared “Your New Leicester Square, Opening April 2012“. I’m no expert
but given that there were only four days of showery April remaining and a
considerable amount of work still ongoing , that date seemed a little
optimistic.
Finally, three weeks into May, it has happened. The hoardings are down and no doubt the
crowds, encouraged by the warm weather, are already filling the space, leaving
their litter and scrawling their names on the freshly hewn granite but hey,
that’s life.
I haven’t
yet seen the finished product, but I suspect that when I do I’m going to find
it just a little too clinical but not to worry, it’ll soon gain the patina of
the masses and will eventually reacquire that touch of seediness that it really
needs to become London’s premiere entertainment district. Enjoy!
All photographs, except the banner and the Odeon, predate December 2010.
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