A Cambridge city-centre renewal project may receive an investment of approximately £92.28 million from the council, according to a new report.

On Wednesday (02/09), a City Council report stated its ‘Civic Quarter’ programme planned to give “significant investment” into the Guildhall, Corn Exchange, and the Market Square in Cambridge’s city centre.

The Civic Quarter project’s main development areas for the Guidlhall and Corn Exchange focus on improving climate efficiency, accessibility, and expanding the community spaces available in the two.

To fulfil the first of those goals, the council stated it aimed to “conserve and modernise” the Guildhall by adapting the Grade I listed building so it can operate at net-zero carbon standards.

Similarly, the plans also seek to enhance the Corn Exchange building’s energy efficiency. This would include introducing increased insulation and solar panels.

Along with climate-conscious developments, the project includes plans to improve the area’s accessibility. The council proposed improved sound quality and a new audio-visual system for events at the Corn Exchange, as well as the expansion of concession and bar areas.

In the Guildhall, the plans include the creation of a publicly accessible café, as well as new workspaces and meeting rooms for commercial tenants and council staff.

The Civic Quarter project is due to be discussed further by councillors next week (09/09).

The proposed cost of £92.275 million is broken down to give £52.16 million for work on the Guildhall, £26.491 million for the Corn Exchange, and £13.624 million for work on the Market Square.

These costs are in addition to £4 million already spent on the concept design and detailed design work.

According to the report, £23 million of this funding may be sourced from a general fund earmarked reserve, £60.3 million of external borrowing, and £6 million from the sale of Mandela House.

The developments on the two buildings form one part of the Civic Quarter project, with the other central part of the plan being to improve Cambridge’s Market Square.

The recent publication of the report comes as a development to earlier updates on the development plan published in late August (21/08), revealing more detail about funding and funding sources.

These notably included the plans for Market Square, which multiple market traders criticised, Varsity reported last week (27/08).