Revealed - first glimpse of new town centre

The first artist impression of how the new North Street development, which includes a Marks and Spencer foodhall, will look, has been revealed.

An artists impression of the site currently occupied by the CISWO Club, who are set to make way for the huge redevelopment of the area when they relocate to their new club premises in early 2017, shows a transformation of the site in North Street.

And with a Mark and Spencer foodhall taking up the main anchor store, as well as a Marsdens gastro pub and a Tony Macaroni restaurant also confirmed, the hope is the extensive redevelopment will trigger further reinvestment into the town.

Keith Davidson, Easy Living Developments CEO, said the development work was on track to be completed by September 2017.

“Things are ticking along nicely and we are expecting to have the CISWO Club fully relocated to their new facility in South Street by February next year,” he said.

“Once that is complete it will allow us to demolish the old club and start the North Street site immediately.

“The design of the public house is still to be decided upon but we expect to have the last of those issues completed in the next week or so.

“It’s an exciting time for the town and we’re glad to be playing our part.”

And he added that he was confident that all the retailers would be in the finished development and trading well ahead of the busy Christmas period.

“As long as there are no hitches along the way and I can’t see why there should be, we are aiming for retailers to be open by October 2017,” Mr Davidson added.

The first of what the new look retail park will look like has been warmly welcomed by members of the Glenrothes Area Futures Group, who have been campaigning for town centre redevelopment for several years.

Dr Bob Grant, chairman of the group, said it was a “major breakthrough” for both Glenrothes and the surrounding area.

“At last we’ll have an evening social centre in the town,” he added.

The news of an anticipated completion date for North Street site, which for years was expected to become a Tesco supermarket until they scrapped plans in December 2013, represents a huge boost for the town and brings the end of the decade-long saga a step closer.