I am not sure why they were doing this. Perhaps they were dealing with what bureaucrats call a "grout durability issue".

Allowing for this tidying-up business, the Streetscape project was looking pretty good in the sunshine.

I attended the opening do in front of the Town House at the end of June when Provost Jimmy Gray officially "laid" the last flagstone. As is normal on these occasions, the provost had a symbolic role. The real work was done by two hard-hatted guys from ROK.

They lifted the slab into place with the vacuum device they use for such tasks, and checked and rechecked the level of the foundation until everything was just right. The provost then gave a few taps with a mallet for the sake of the photos, to the accompaniment of a few cracks about not breaking the stone at the last moment.

Some pupils from Cauldeen Primary School sang a charming song for the occasion and those invited to the ceremony were led on a quick safari to see the completed job in Ness Walk, Church Street, Union Street and environs.

So I thought that was it — all done. Not so, said Matt Baker, the genial lead artist for the Streetscape project, when we met later in the Town House. There are more art projects to come, he told me.

In September there will be "Re-imagining the Centre" with contributions from nine artists, half of them Highland and the others from the rest of Scotland. This is a successor to "Imagining the Centre" the one-day festival that lit up the heart of the city in September 2006.

Also still to come are re-workings of the entrances to the Victorian Market and, most ambitious of all, an artwork to go on the façade of the Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Church Street, to be ready by May 2010.

The name of the artist who will be awarded this prestigious commission, worth £70,000, has not yet been announced, but I understand that Ramada Jarvis's preference is leaning towards Usman Haque. Based in London, he has become renowned internationally for what he and his team call interactive architecture. We wait to see what is in store.

There is also in prospect a gathering with the name of the Invernessian Clanjamfrey — I was warned not to call it a conference — when artists will get together to discuss how towns can renew their identity and how creative people can contribute to this.

This is what it is all about. The Streetscape project has cost £6 million and this expenditure is justified by the belief that the work will not only speed the regeneration of the heart of the city but is an essential step in that process.

This approach to economic development is widespread throughout Europe. Again and again you come across examples of artists being let loose in the streets in an effort to reverse stagnation and decay.

The Streetscape project has showcased some local artists and brought them other work. For example, on the basis of their work in Inverness, Fin Macrae and Al MacInnes, collectively known as DUFI, are now in the last three for a commission to do a street-art project in the Derby suburb of Alveston.

The Streetscape project has been a success in artistic terms and despite the gainsayers, has been given a guarded welcome by the majority of the folks who use the city centre. But will it boost trade and bring shoppers back to the "four streeties"? Will it spur on the needed commercial upturn?

Not much sign of that so far. "To let" signs still abound and the shopkeepers are still living with depressed trade. The heart of Inverness beats but the pulse is weak. The Scottish government's rates reduction for small businesses has been a help but it has not, on its own, really been enough. We may need to pull through the recession before any final verdict on Streetscape will be possible.

The lines inscribed on the flagstone laid by the provost read "He will guide them to the springs/ of the waters of life/ and God will wipe every/ last tear from their eyes." Thought-provoking words. Shopkeepers, take heart!

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---