A SPLASH of colour will soon be applied to Renfrew Town Hall, with work on fresh lighting for the landmark set to begin on March 1.

Renfrewshire Council has confirmed decorative lights will be installed on the spire and clock, with the project due to be completed by the middle of next month.

The town’s Robertson Park will also be illuminated, although the local authority has not confirmed an exact date for those lights going live.

These will be the final stages of a major effort to brighten up some of Renfrewshire’s most treasured venues using the area’s share of the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Fund.

New lighting has already been installed at Johnstone’s Houstoun Square and on the Bascule Bridge, over the White Cart, in Renfrew.

Councillor John Shaw, who represents Renfrew North and Braehead, said he is delighted to see progress being made on the project, which he hopes will bring added sparkle to some much-loved sites.

“It’s great to see all of these projects coming to fruition,” he said.

“Whether it be the decorative lighting on the town hall, Bascule Bridge or the avenue of trees in Robertson Park, or the more functional street lighting and CCTV through the park, they all make our town a wee bit brighter and hopefully safer and more accessible.”

The fund is intended to improve town centres across the country by encouraging new investment and uses for vacant spaces.

Renfrewshire initially received around £1.5million from the fund in 2019, with a further £527,000 allocated last year to help town centres bounce back from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The cash has also helped to pay for new Christmas lights in Johnstone and refurbishments to vacant shop units in George Street, Paisley, Renfrew’s Dunlop Crescent and High Street and MacDowall Street, in Johnstone.
In addition, three community projects are receiving grants from the fund, including

PACE Theatre Group, which has plans to transform Paisley’s former Mannequins nightclub into a new theatre, and Active Communities, which is working on bringing the former police station in Johnstone’s Quarry Street back into use as a community hub.

Kustom Kruizers will also be converting a former toilet block in Robertson Park into a cycle hub.