Eberle Street to become yellow brick road

The main street in Liverpool’s gay quarter is being given a Wizard of Oz-themed makeover designed by BCA Landscape, as part of a £1.4m programme of street improvements by Liverpool BID Company.

The work at Eberle Street will create a paving and lighting scheme that will pay homage to the Emerald City, Yellow Brick Road and Judy Garland.

Starting on site in early January, the aim of the renovation is to celebrate the city’s lesbian and gay heritage and community, with the designs also inspired by the history of businesses in the area such as the Artist Club, Gbar and Garlands.

The current footway material of tarmac, with concrete kerbing, will make way for a levelled street featuring contemporary paving consisting of high-quality stone to work sympathetically with the existing buildings.

A lighting scheme will be suspended 20 ft above Eberle Street featuring bespoke LED fixtures.

To be completed in April, it is hoped Eberle street, which is near to Mathew Street and Liverpool Town Hall, will become an additional tourist attraction for the city.

The project is a collaboration between Liverpool BID Company, the City Council, BCA Landscape, Amey and numerous stakeholders from Eberle Street.

Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: “These works will give a unique look to Eberle Street in keeping with it being at the heart of the LGBT quarter.

“This is part of the city centre which is thriving and attracts many visitors and its transformation will make it an even greater attraction. Local businesses have been closely involved in the design process and are helping make this a very exciting scheme.”

The Eberle Street scheme is part of a £1.4m programme to improve walking connections north-south between the Commercial District and the retail core of the city centre.

The Commercial District BID has invested £900k in the two-year programme, raised via a BID levy on businesses, with the remainder funded by the City Council. This has led to the renovation of several key streets with improved footways and kerbs, road resurfacing, tree planting, street lighting and rationalising street furniture. Improvements to footways and lighting on nearby North John Street will also begin at the same time as Eberle Street, marking the final phase of the programme.