A series of striking images showing how two of the town centre's newest buildings will look have been released.
The pictures show the interior and exterior of the new Transport Interchange off Smith Street and the new Rochdale Leisure Centre off Entwisle Road from a variety of new positions.
Around £22m is being spent on both buildings, which together with the £55m new municipal offices and proposed £150m new retail development around Baillie Street, will see the transformation of the eastern side of the town centre.
Work on the £10.5m Transport Interchange is due to begin in April following a series of hold-ups after funding for the scheme was pulled by the government, before being reinstated 12 months later. It is due to be completed in 2013.
The latest images show how the Interchange, which will combine a bus station, taxi rank and Metrolink station, will be built alongside the River Roch on Smith Street.
Outside, three connecting oval-shaped buildings will be constructed and clad in glass to create an open state-of-the-art interchange.
Inside, seating areas will be constructed in large floor-to-ceiling rooms at either end of the building, with smaller rooms for toilets and ticket offices between the two waiting areas.
Buses will park at either end of the building while taxis will wait a few yards away.
See video below of the planned Transport Interchange ...
Elsewhere on Entwisle Road, work is nearing completion on the town's new leisure centre.
The £11m building, which replaces Central Leisure, will have an eight-lane 25 metre swimming pool and separate 17 metre learners' pool with movable floor. There will also be a sauna, steam room, two fitness suites and a dance studio.
Outside, there will be parking for 160 cars.
The building, which is being constructed next to the existing Rochdale Central Leisure, is due to open this summer.
See video below of the planned Leisure Centre ...
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Where the pictures of our new shopping centre then from Genr8?
I forgot it is still early days that are in early discussions with Debenhams. Early days? Genr8 were awarded the contract 3 years ago!
What is planned and what it will be like are like chalk and cheese,, I expect.
A leisure centre crowded with chavs with pushchairs and howling kids.
The Interchange should just be open in time for when I get my Bus pass.
Do I get a free pass into the Leisure Centre?
Do we really need a swimming pool with a moveable floor? Honestly do we?
Taking a walk around Rochdale town centre I wouldn't be happy getting into a pool with at least 99% of the chav's and druggies this town now has.
The bus terminal will be a wreck within weeks of opening, vandalism, litter and crime will take over.
The new shopping centre will have no decent shops.
A new office complex for possibly the most incompetent council in the country.
Shambles, absolute shambles. Until this lot in charge sort the decline in standards across the borough out there is no point in making shiny new things to get detroyed. Rochdale is now a hell hole, even on the advert for payday loans on TV they quote Rochdale.
Wow these are fantastic artists impression. But we have to ask ourselves, where are the chavs, drug dealers and pram pushers of Rochdale on these photographs??
think this looks great hope to see lots of mothers pushing their prams into this new building a nice place to unwind..
What about the can swiggers and cider louts smoking dope,alogside the pregnant again chav females pushing a buggy with a child or a double buggy,of course with the obligatory fag in the mouth ,and shouting swear words at the kids
Does anyone remember the stunning photos of what Ashfield Valley was supposed to look like upon completion?
too many haters in this town if people find the young people so offensive i think maybe they should move to the next town i find somewere else to live
Oh dear, how cynical we are.
This is an exceptionally good news story!
"Around £22m is being spent on both buildings, which together with the £55m new municipal offices and proposed £150m new retail development around Baillie Street, will see the transformation of the eastern side of the town centre"
What we will see is a load of nice new buildings and the few shops that currently trade in the two failing shopping centres will move to the swanky new place leaving the wheatsheaf and Exchange centres empty. The town centre will gravitate towards the new site (as has happened in bury) and while this might boost trade on Drake street, it will not do much for the fortunes of Yorkshire Street. This could lead the way for the whole of the exchange centre to become the worlds biggest Tesco!!
We will be paying for this for the next 30 years!
just a waste of money doesnt matter how good you try
rochdale will still be a crap hole all the shops with be empty like now
no sorry we ll have more pounds shops more loan shops
Whats needed is some radical out of the box thinking. High streets all over the country are suffering and this is inevitable given the rise in out of town shopping centres and the increase in internet shopping along with mega supermarkets. Basically the high street as was is pretty much gone and not likely to return anytime soon.
With the proposed regeneration of Rochdale Town Centre we have a unique opportunity to do something a bit different from all the other surrounding towns/areas to create an exclusive attraction to the centre based on leisure/tourism/history.
A bustling high street with busy shops just isnt going to work in Rochdale anymore as there are far better offerings that are easily accessable nearby.
Unfortunately I have absolutely no faith the leadership of Rochdale that have been so woefull over the past 30 years and brought this Town down into the gutter to make any imaginative decisions for the good of the town.