Lithgow’s Town Centre Revitalisation project is running on schedule and construction is due to begin in the coming months.
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"We've had all the designs done and the public consultation, now we're getting to the stage where we will hopefully start construction very shortly," said Lithgow City Council group operations manager Iain Stewart.
The $2.9 million project is being funded by a $1,304,550 federal government grant and $1,594,450 from council*.
Councillor Maree Statham had raised concerns at the last council meeting that time may be running out before the grant would expire.
However Mr Stewart said council was on track to commence construction before the next reporting milestone date on June 15.
"We're certainly in accordance with the milestones, once we get tenders let we will be ready to start construction,” he said.
The milestone date for the upgrades to be fully operational is June 15, 2018.
The town centre will benefit from several key developments including the replacement of the paved walkway at both Cook Street Plaza and Eskbank Street and awnings along both sides of the Plaza to provide shelter.
Fresh green walls and seating along both sides of the plaza as well as the installation of feature lighting will brighten up the CBD.
During the demolition stage the Marjorie Jackson statue will be carefully removed and stored off-site.
After the majority of the work has been completed she will be reinstalled in the plaza.
The project’s next step will be to call tenders for stage one of the works for the upgrade of Cook Plaza and the Eskbank Street precinct.
"It will take three weeks for the tender process, then the tenders have got to be reviewed and then reported to council and a contract accepted so we're probably talking six to eight weeks for that whole process," Mr Stewart said.
The project will need to work around the roll-out of the NBN in Lithgow’s town centre.
“They are planning to dig up most of Main Street so we'll obviously need to check their timetable and find out exactly where they're going to be working and when they're going to be working.
“We don't want to put our work down and have it dug up two weeks later," the operations manager said.
Residents can have their own look at the final designs by visiting the Lithgow City Council office.
*Originally appeared as: The project is being funded by a $2.899 million federal government grant.
