E. THE PARAGON STEPS
'Bath has the finest carved street lettering in the country. This was the result of the 1793 & 1807 Improvement Acts requiring all streets and houses to be named and numbered.'
The Paragon steps are
a wonderful atmospheric asset to the street. As with all small yards,steps
and walkways which spring at right angles to Walcot Street they make any walk
along Walcot Street, one of interest,curiosity and intrigue.
The Paragon steps also forms a very important pedestrian link to the Paragon,the
Circus,George Street and Lansdown Hill.
At present the Paragon
steps are in poor repair, dirty, badly lit, the furnishings are a confusion
and there is no signage to indicate what or where you might be going to.The
soffit at the top of the steps is in bad repair as are parts of the walls
and there are defunct features that need to be removed.
The steps are abused late at night when clientele from Cadillacs Night Club
urinate or vomit on the steps, in the entranceway to shops and down Old Orchard.Better
lighting and general upgrading could rectify this.
The steps are an asset and frequently photographed by tourists and should
be monitored and kept in good repair as part of this world heritage site.
1. REPAIR
Clean the Bath stone walls and make good where necessary with suitable mortar. Clear back the greenery to facilitate cleaning but do not remove completely. Remove defunct fixtures and replace with working fixtures. Clean and paint the bollards and railings at the top of the steps. Limewashing the stonework was not favoured as it would attract graffiti. Replaster and paint the soffit.
FUNDING: B&NES and Bath Preservation Trust in association with national and international funding bodies. English Heritage/British Urban Regeneration Association/English Partnerships/European Heritage Awards etc
COST: Estimated Cost £ 12.000.00 - £ 15.000.00
2. FRESCO FOR SOFFIT A painted decorative treated ply panel would be attached in section to the soffit area under the Paragon Wine Bar. This would
a).highlight the top of the steps,
b).give a focus on ascending and
c).create a relevant
and stimulating community artwork. The fresco would be a satirical piece in
the style of Rubens of Lady Margaret Oswick and associated past luminaries
of Walcot Street. Lady Margaret, a formidable Natural Theatre Company diva
who has been championing local issues for decades, would be the major figure
and she would float across the soffit against a deep sky blue background with
others in the background.
The Paragon Wine Bar was formerly Aunt Margaret's Cafe. This work would be
site specific and very much a work to identify and lift the community spirit
.
ARTIST :SARAH MALLABAR or other locally based public artist Sarah Mallabar is based in Walcot Street and has considerable experience in creating large scale murals. She has both murals and mosaics in the Royal United Hospital and Green Park Dental Surgery in Bath and has published 4 posters for the Post Office, as an educational iniative nation wide.She has experience in creating and siteing work in both interior and exterior public spaces.
PRODUCTION: The work would be created off site after considerable consultation with the local community.It would be painted on to treated ply,weatherproofed and would then be sited onto the soffit in section.
INSTALLATION: Installation would be carried out by the artist with assistants. Scaffolding would have to be set up for one or two days and the Paragon Steps would have to be closed for 1/2 days.
FUNDING: Funding would be sort from commercial sources, particularly the Paragon Wine Bar,the Natural Theatre Company and Cadillacs Night Club who would also partnership fund the cleaning of the Paragon Steps. Arts and Business could also be approached as a potential funder.
COST: Materials and installation £ 350.00 Artist Fees £ 1.250.00 Overall Cost: £ 1.600.00 Lighting for the work would be decided in consultation with the artist and B&NES conservation officers.
3. LIGHTING
Remove the bracket street light at the bottom of the Paragon Steps. The new street lighting in Walcot Street is good and close enough to the bottom of the steps to make the bracket light obsolete. Both bracket lights are sodium luminaires and cast an alienating cold light on the steps at night.
OPTIONS:Replace existing lighting with either, a). Low energy downlighters to flood the steps with light. Fabricate another bracket similar to the one further up the steps.Attach low energy downlighting luminaires to both brackets. These 2 lights could then be placed at strategic points on the steps to create continuous lighting up the steps.
FUNDING: As previous
COST: Iron Art of Bath brackets x 1 £ 150.00 - £ 300.00 Downlighting low energy luminaires various prices b).Replace the existing lighting completely with small semi recessed circular wall lights attached between the steps and the handrail at regular intervals along the South wall. The wall lights have heavy duty borosilicate moulded lenses designed to project light downwards in a 1 metre arc.
COST: Light Graphix low energy G412V20W capsule lamp or Light Graphix low energy G412V20W Xenon (grey anodised) @ £ 54.48 + VAT 6 - 8 lamps suppy only £381.36 + VAT
4.SIGNAGE Directional signage for route links are necessary, particularly for pedestrians. For able bodied pedestrians this is a marvellous link route between the riverside,Walcot Street,the Paragon,Hay Hill ,Lansdown Hill, The Circus and the Royal Crescent. The City Trail plans to extend its walks down the Paragon and down Walcot Street and would like to sign its trail within the footways.
OPTIONS:
a). Ground sited pennant with incised carved text and directional element set into the street paveing 1 metre out from the bottom step in Walcot Street. Repeated one metre out from top step in Paragon. (supplied by City Trail)
FUNDING: As previous
COST: Not including installation x 1 £ 300.00 - 500.00 b). Lettering carved into the rubble wall in the Bath tradition indicating 'The Paragon' at bottom of steps and 'Walcot Street' at top of steps with directional indicator.
COST: Estimate for on site carving x 1 £ 300.00 - 400.00