Changing face of Blackpool as £65m project starts

Richard HuntLocal Democracy Reporting Service
News imageLDRS Red and silver fences cordon off building work with Blackpool Tower in the backgroundLDRS
The new university campus is due to open in 2027

New photographs show how Blackpool's landscape is changing as work on bringing a £65m university campus to the area gets underway.

The images show the results of recent demolition work for the resort's multiversity campus which will be known as the University Centre Blackpool.

Houses on George Street have been dismantled before the full-scale demolition of a town centre neighbourhood.

The university will offer 70 courses and cater for 3,500 students and staff. It is due to open in September 2027.

The multiversity project, led by Blackpool and The Fylde College in partnership with Blackpool Council, is backed by government funding and is designed to transform a large section of the town centre into a modern, high-tech learning hub.

The university, to be built on land around Cookson Street, is part of the wider £350m Talbot Gateway Project centred around Blackpool North station.

News imageLDRS Mound of rubble stand where building work has taken place with a Sainsbury's supermarket in the backgroundLDRS
The new university will cater for 3,500 staff and students

Blackpool & The Fylde College's chief executive Alun Francis said: "It's really exciting to see the preparatory works for the multiversity getting underway."

He added that "this project will regenerate a strategically important part of Blackpool town centre" and "will also launch a new model for delivering more flexible higher education".

News imageLDRS An aerial shot of buildings have been demolished in the centre of BlackpoolLDRS
Buildings have been demolished to make way for the new campus

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