Every week for the past four years, restaurant owner David Fox has walked across Albert Square to be met by the same, demoralising vision. Portable cabins piled high on top of each other, while Manchester Town Hall's iconic architecture is shrouded behind white sheets and scaffolding.
David says: "I think we can all agree we need to get the wretched portacabins removed and the square reopened as soon as is possible. Most building projects don’t have the luxury of using one of the best civic squares in Europe to put their building works on. "It's a waste of space for the city, it's a waste of space for the operators around the square and it's a waste of space for the council in terms of the money it can generate from hosting events there. There needs to be some urgency in getting the square back up and running."
"You're paying a top rate rent on the basis of being in a prime location - and part of the appeal of that is that you're on Albert Square. It's meant to be amazing outside space and quite frankly it's not at the moment." We have put the comments to Manchester Council, and a spokesman for the Our Town Hall project said: "We understand, and indeed share, the frustration that the enormous project to transform Albert Square and repair, restore and breathe new life into the town hall is taking longer than originally anticipated.
It has outlined the timelines it is now working to - including a big update on when the Christmas Markets MAY be able to return. The last time the Christmas markets were able to be held on Albert Square was 2018, while the last events held there were in the summer of 2019 before the portable office buildings were piled up on the civic square and scaffolding began to cover the town hall in 2020.
"When there's nothing happening on the square it's just a very quiet thoroughfare with a load of cabins in. Manchester has always had its shopping tourists and sports tourists, but Albert Square has always been a showcase of the city.