AS QUEEN Victoria’s statue awaits a makeover next month, Blackburn’s new £34million Cathedral Quarter, in which she will have pride of place, is taking its final shape in front of her eyes.

Rooms in the Premier Inn are being fitted out, the six-storey office block next door finished off and the paving for the public gardens and square is being laid.

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Work is due to start soon on completing the train and bus interchange outside the railway station with a new island and bus lane, while the Jubilee Street carpark for the offices and hotel is close to completion.

As Steve Rawlinson, project manager for main contractor Eric Wright, and Clare Turner, his equivalent for Blackburn with Darwen Council, show us round, their pride in the scheme and its rapid progress is clearly visible.

The large, well-lit offices in the block, bought by Legal and General for £9.1million in March, are now being carpeted and decorated.

A new sub-station to provide power for the complex will soon be installed.

Soon work will begin on completing the public transport interchange behind the block which Mr Rawlinson believes will bring dozens of office workers into Blackburn town centre.

A veteran of several such major schemes, he said: “I think critics of this development will eat their words when it is up and running.

“These offices are of the same standard as those in Spinningfields in Manchester.

“This is a fantastic development.

“I am proud to be in charge of it.”

The stone and glasswork is finished on the block and Mrs Tuner reveals negotiations are at an advanced stage for its first tenants, She also reveals that with Premier Inn opening the dining room and bar at its 60-bed hotel to the public, talks are going well for a major name to take the adjoining dining space.

A quick tour into the two restaurants gives a clear idea of how they will look full of diners and drinkers with a little open air terrace outside looking over to the new Cathedral ‘festival’ square.

Going up the building, you find walls being painted, lifts installed and bedrooms being fitted out.

Many now are starting to take shape, with carpets, some bathrooms with top-class tiling, and all have fantastic views of Blackburn, the Cathedral and the surrounding hills.

At the top is a roof area with piping and Brighton-beach style pebbles to aid the insulation.

From there you can see the completed roof of the Cathedral Court, the nearly finished refectory and the half-built first floor corridor to the transept of the main church.

As you look down the start of paving, the protected historic trees and Queen Victoria’s statue give an idea of how the final ‘public realm’ will look.

Mrs Turner says: “This is going to be an amazing space, a green oasis in the centre of Blackburn.”

Mr Rawlinson said: “We know things can go wrong with major projects like this but this has gone pretty smoothly with just one or two glitches, “We are on track to hand everything over at the end of September.”

Borough regeneration boss Phil Riley is similarly cautiously optimistic for a September finish and the construction of a second office block enclosing and completing the mains square in the near future.

He said: “This is going to be real asset to Blackburn and something for Queen Victoria to preside over proudly.”

By the end of next month work will start on cleaning and restoring her statue, complete with new hands and fingers.

And in September, as work on the new Cathedral Cloister Garden begins, the square and gardens’ lush green new domain will spring to life before her.