Merchant Quarter gears up for launch
06/09/10
An exciting new venture aimed at boosting business, tourism, leisure and retail opportunities in Aberdeen's historic Green area will get off the ground this week.
The Merchant Quarter will launch on Tuesday [7 September] with an opening festival aimed at boosting business, tourism, leisure and retail opportunities in the newly created cultural quarter in and around the Green by encouraging people back into the culturally and historically rich neighbourhood.
The week-long launch of the Merchant Quarter coincides with the 10 day Aberdeen Performing Arts Northern Edge Jazz Festival, Doors Open Day and a Country and Western night in some of the Quarter's most interesting historic buildings.
The launch will see participating restaurants and bars offering a two course Best of Scotland lunch or dinner for £15 per person over the 10 days and a lively weekend entertainment extravaganza, including: performances by Los Acousticos Bandidos at the Carmelite Hotel; Irish Country dinner nights at the Douglas Hotel; and performances by artists including singer/songwriter Simon Kempston, guitarist Oliver Richard, and jazz musicians Colin Black and Grigor Leslie at Musa.
Aberdeen City Council has been working with a consortium of independent businesses to create the Merchant Quarter. The consortium is seeking to promote the businesses and define the area as an attractive, cosmopolitan destination for a range of daytime and evening activities including shopping, dining and socialising.
The Merchant Quarter incorporates a significant part of the Green, which is being regenerated and restored to its former glory through the £2.8million Green Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI), a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund, Aberdeen City Council, Historic Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.
Merchant Quarter Association chairman Jonathan Day said: "The creation of a Merchant Quarter will change the way people eat, drink, shop and entertain in the city and in a short period of time will change everyone's perception of this area and the city of Aberdeen.
"The Merchant Quarter is a grown-up visitor attraction where drink is not the focal point. It's about wonderful food and hospitality, amazing shopping and a feast of culture and entertainment. It is all within a quarter of a square mile and it's all well behaved fun in a well-managed safe environment.
"European cities that have invested in high quality visitor experiences in their cultural quarters have been rewarded with a huge influx of tourists, a fillip in local civic pride and a surge in investment.
"The Merchant Quarter can do this for Aberdeen without any significant cost. It's an intellectual rather than financial investment where imagination and collaboration come together to rebrand and reposition what is already there. This is a project with limitless potential that will change perceptions, make Aberdeen a significant visitor destination and leave a lasting legacy."
Gordon McIntosh, the council's Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure director added: "I applaud the initiative shown by the group of businesses in the area that is fast becoming known as the Merchant Quarter.
"It builds on the investment made by the council and the Heritage Lottery Fund in the wider Green area and celebrates the quality of the food produced by the growing number of five restaurants in this part of the city."
The Merchant Quarter is located in one of the city's most important heritage sites with some awe-inspiring architecture. It includes parts of Guild Street, the Green, Exchange Street, Correction Wynd, Stirling Street and the rejuvenated upper end of Market Street.
A number of new investments and property refurbishments over the past year, including streetscape and building improvement works funded by the Green Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI), have transformed the landscape and made the area almost unrecognisable from 12 months ago.
The Green THI works inspired a consortium of independent businesses to come together to launch the Merchant Quarter area as a new distinctive visitor destination. It boasts an ever increasing number of quality bistros and bars, independent shops, entertainment attractions and a cluster of beauty, artistic and lifestyle businesses.
The vision of the 26 business-strong consortium includes:
•the coming together of all the independent businesses in the area;
•a new vibrant, cultural, "grown-up" area for Aberdeen, centred around brasserie-style food and drink, lifestyle businesses and independent shopping, supplemented by a range of festivals;
•the creation of an artistic gateway with themed lighting, art, sculptures and street furniture, for visitors arriving in the city by bus, boat or train;
•a distinctive and attractive tourism offering and an area of civic pride for city residents;
•a better-connected area where the combined strength of the participating groups can be used to further improve access routes, street infrastructure and policing.
The newly created cultural quarter connects Union Square shopping centre, Union Street, the Trinity Centre, the Bon Accord and St Nicholas Shopping centres and the harbour, bus and train stations.
Mr Day added: "With six days of late shopping and within walking distance of the city's key cinemas, theatres and music halls, the area is the perfect staging post for pre and post- shopping and entertainment.
"Everything is falling into place extremely quickly and anyone who has not visited this part of the city recently is likely to be astounded by the change."
The nine participating venues for the Best of Scotland restaurant promotion are: Sopranos Wine Bar & Bistro; Carmelite Bar & Grill; Moonfish Café; Molly's Bistro; Café 52; The Gas Lamp; Restaurant 21; *Musa Art Café; and *Bistro Verde (*lunchtimes only).