Town gets its skates on

"Icecapades", as it is billed, is a positive move by the Bolton Town Centre Company Ltd to increase visitor numbers between November 30 and January 4.

There will be changing areas at the rink in Victoria Square and it will cost £3 per session -- including skates.

A major marketing initiative has seen packages offered to schools and other organisations.

Also, leisure outlets including Chicago Rock, Bar Juice and Hustlers Pool Bar have combined with the ice rink to offer party nights with a difference to Christmas and New Year revellers.

The response has already encouraged the company to make plans for the ice rink to make another appearance next year.

Hopefully, skaters will also spend money in the shops, restaurants and pubs.

The Town Centre Company was launched in October 1999 and ran a successful campaign last Christmas which resulted in increased visitor levels.

The company, which is chaired by Alan McNaughton of estate agents Miller Metcalfe, has a board which consists of two councillors, eight private sector representatives, a public transport representative and one from Bolton Community Homes.

There are now 40 members paying between £490 and £5,100 a year, depending on size.

These include retailers, pubs, hotels, bus companies, housing providers and commercial and professional companies.

Bolton has taken some knocks recently with the news that it is to lose two well-known retail stores -- C&A and Whiteheads. But the Town Centre company is working hard to encourage inward investment.

The re-vamped web-site -- www.boltontowncentre.co.uk -- gives demographic details of the town and, among other things, lists local property agents.

A CD-Rom is to be sent to target companies in the hope that they would consider moving to Bolton town centre.

Manager Karen Wheeldon said: "I think the bottom line is that we need to be more pro-active in attracting people to come to the town."

She added: "Retail is struggling, but the most important thing is that we know there are some very big names which want to come to Bolton.

"We need to try to match them with the right units."

Bass Leisure is one company which has already shown it has confidence in Bolton.

It already has four outlets at Middlebrook -- Hollywood Bowl, Horwich Park Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Jefferson's American restaurant.

The latest £2 million investment will be in the centre of Bolton if planning and licensing decisions go in the company's favour and it succeeds in buying the famous old Whitehead's Store building.

A company spokesman said the ground floor would become a Goose pub. There are currently about 18 such venues around the country offering value-for-money food and drink in the absence of loud music, karaoke, dart boards and pool tables.

It will employ about 35 people when it opens in late summer next year.

The spokman pointed out that the company only invested in properties which it believed would provide a good return.

"We feel that a Goose pub will be successful where we are planning to develop in Bolton," she said.

At the moment there are no firm plans for the rest of the Whiteheads building, but offices and residential units are an option.

Local club boss John Musso believes Bolton town centre is a firm North-west favourite for young people out to enjoy themselves.

"I think Bolton as a whole is among the best nights out in the country," he said.

His Temple nightspot has a national profile and attracts visitors from all over the country.

Also, Club Mezzo (formerly Club Mondo) has undergone a £280,000 re-vamp to create a smart venue with a 1960s them aimed at up-market people over 25.

Both establishments and other clubs, pubs, restaurants and hotels expect to do well out of the coming holiday period. With Christmas Day and Boxing Day falling on Mondays, there will be successive "weekends" which will include Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

In spite of the hype, the reality last year was that many people chose to stay at home or greet the new Millennium with friends.

"Things were much too expensive and there was too much expectation," Mr Musso said. "Prices are going to be normal this year and I believe people will turn out."

'City living' could be trendy choice

CITY centre living is becoming a trendy choice in Manchester.

But will it catch on here in Bolton and help to provide financial support for the centre?

The Irwell Valley Housing Association believes it is on to a winner with the 35 apartments it is building in the former municipal grammar school building in Great Moor Street.

The school closed in the early 1970s and later became Bolton Institute's Art and Design department.

The "Old School Rooms" -- predominantly two-bedroom apartments -- cost between £58,000 and £85,000.

They are to be sold on a shared ownership basis which allows people to part-buy and part-rent with the opportunity to buy them after at least 12 months.

Project Manager Fiona McAuley said the idea was to bring life back to that area of Bradshawgate.

"We can see more and more people coming back into the town centre," she said.

The response so far had been very good with six of the apartments reserved already -- mostly by people in their 30s and 40s.

This, of course, is not the only town centre living scheme in the pipeline.

Irwell Valley owns the former ABC Cinema site in nearby Bradshawgate and has plans -- not imminent -- for a mixed commercial and residential development.

More accommodation is planned for the site of the former fire station in Marsden Road and there are other unoccupied buildings around should this develop into a full-blown trend.

It would be nice to think that there could be a resurgence of "corner shops" in these areas to serve new residents when the major outlets have closed.