PLANS for a multi-million pound 'fashion tower', which regeneration bosses hope will kick-start East Lancashire's rebirth, have been unveiled.
The proposal for Victoria Mill in Burnley's Weavers' Triangle is the legacy of the late music mogul Anthony Wilson, who came up with the idea to celebrate the area's textile manufacturing past.
Weave is one of the key projects in the campaign to create the new Pennine Lancashire brand.
Bosses from regeneration body Elevate said they were confident it would completed in three years.
Artist's impressions have been released today as well as the first details on what would be contained inside the mixture of Victorian mills and the radically-designed glass structures.
It will house a roof-top bar with panoramic views of the area, around 20 fashion and lifestyle shops, a cafe and restaurant and commercial workspaces for businesses to rent.
Workshops for fashion students will also be staged at the site and a piece of art depicting the area's industrial heritage will span the glass tower's six storeys.
The unusual triangle-shaped glass 'nose' of Weave is representative of Pennine Lancashire bosses' aim to be striking, artistic and contemporary.
Burnley's Weavers' Triangle used to be home to thousands of cotton workers when East Lancashire was the textile capital of the world.
As well as the Pennine Lancashire plans, Rossendale-based developer The Hurstwood Group, in a separate development, is also bidding to regenerate another part of the Weavers' Triangle.
Hurstwood wants to build an 800-capacity music venue, restaurants, offices, homes and public squares in the area.
Elevate chairman, David Taylor, said that Weave would be up and running within three years.
But he said they still needed to secure public and private sector funding for the project.
He admitted that Weave was an ambitious project but was confident it would become a reality.
Mr Taylor said: "We hope this building will set the standard for the project and will be something that mixes the history of the area and also the future.
"It has got to be relevant to the people of the area and have a mixture of art galleries and other concepts. It's very important that we get this mix right.
"This mill has sat derelict for nearly 50 years and we really want to transform the whole feel of the place."
Mr Taylor said the challenge now was to attract private investors and get them to pump money into the scheme.
The Pennine Lancashire logo was also officially unveiled yesterday.
Steve Connor from Creative Concern - the company behind the design - claimed that one day the PL' initials could become as synonymous with this area as LA was with Los Angeles.
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