Those old enough to remember when Pearson St Mall was known as Charlestown Mall will recall that it was once a hive of activity.
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Before Charlestown Square opened, in 1979, The Store co-op occupied what is now Hilltop Plaza and the mall was the focal point of retail activity in the town.
These days, the mall is more of a transient place. It has not kept pace with the times and is not an inviting space. But all that is about to change.
Lake Macquarie City Council is revitalising the Pearson Street Mall and will transform it into dynamic hub that will double as a ‘test bed’ for innovative technologies. We plan to develop a smart precinct where we can invite the community to trial technologies.
Council has committed $2million to the revitalisation of this public space, and last week we received additional funding from the Federal Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs Program to enhance the technology component of the mall upgrade.
The new area will be known as the Charlestown Innovation Precinct – or ChIP for short – and the transformation is set to unfold over the next 18 months.
To help people imagine what it could look like in the future,council is staging ChIPfest, a pop-up event filled with food trucks, technology, music and more, on Thursday, November 30 from 5-8.30pm. The event is free, so come along and share your ideas.
