Transform retail squares to resuscitate Nelson CBD, teenagers say – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

Nelson’s central business district needs to start changing now if it is to become more than an empty space.

That was the warning from high school students this week, as they urged city leaders to consider and refine their suggestions to help revitalise the city centre – including pedestrianising Montgomery Square.

On Tuesday, Nelson College students presented 3D modelling of the square to show what it would look like with benches, grass and trees, a raised stage, and a central water fountain. The fountain had jets of water that people could play in on hot days and that could be lit up with different colours at night.

The square in its current state was an “unattractive parking lot with an ugly toilet block in the centre”, the year 10 students said.

It added to the “drab feeling” of a city centre that was becoming “more and more lifeless”, they told the audience at Make/Shift Spaces.

It was a CBD with no heart where car parks took up “too much space”. Turning the square into a “vibrant outdoor space” where people could relax would create a “great destination for people of all ages” and bring more people into the city, they said.