Swansea city centre to get major revamp

A £500M plan to transform Swansea city centre has been announced that will include a number of landmark buildings such as a 3,500-seat arena, an aquarium and a city beach area with bars, restaurants, hotels and homes.

It has been described as the biggest landscape change since the city was blitzed during World War Two and is expected to lead to about 1,700 permanent jobs.

Swansea council says that it expects the work to start in 2017 and a number of the main structures will be built with steel.

Swansea City Council Leader Rob Stewart said: “We’ve been very careful to make sure what we’ve proposed is deliverable. We’re very confident we have the right developers and right funders.”

Two developers – Rivington Land and Acme and Trebor Developments – have been appointed and construction work will bring about 500 jobs.

The main areas to be worked on are the former St David’s shopping centre, land next to the nearby leisure centre and the civic centre site.

The scheme will also include a high-rise building next to it comprising of a hotel and flats and could become the tallest in Wales.