Rob McElhenney solves council question on what to do with old Hippodrome site
UPDATE: Wrexham Council have said this afternoon “…if the plans, due to be formally submitted to Wrexham Council, are approved, the Ryan Rodney Reynolds Memorial Park would be redeveloped and maintained by the pair – with potential revenue streams underpinning the upkeep of the site.”
Locally, Cllr Mark Pritchard, Leader of Wrexham County Borough Council added; “After purchasing the former Hippodrome site last year, we’ve had exactly the same ambition as Rob to bring the space back into use as some sort of community park. Rob’s vision fits so well with our Placemaking ambitions for the City Centre and the early proposals for developing it into pop-up space for our community and attracting visitors to this part of town is really intriguing. The added bonus of having Rob & Ryan involved in the regeneration of the site with a few quirky ideas which only they can do is fantastic and we’ll really look forward to working together as their plans develop.”
Rob clearly loves local red tape, just wait until we get a planning committee on it… “Ryan, what does this guy mean when he says he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know?” https://t.co/tkzO0GmZ6z
— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) October 23, 2023
Original information below…
The birth of Ryan Reynolds may have solved a long standing Wrexham city centre problem – what to do with a patch of council owned land, that has not not really been used.
In what is another elaborate birthday message it appears there could be more substance to just a prank, with parksandwrex.co.uk being specially set up with the above picture and plans for the space – and the possible name the “Ryan Rodney Reynolds Memorial Park”.
Chris Pratt has been brought in for the birthday wishes video – as part of his role as Andy in the hit ‘Parks and Recreation’. Who is Wrexham’s Leslie Knope is as yet unanswered.
Happy birthday, @VancityReynolds. This year I had to bring in an actual superhero… @prattprattpratt pic.twitter.com/BGjzX4EWXN
— Rob McElhenney (@RMcElhenney) October 23, 2023
Work to transform the site of a former cinema into a “multi-use area” remains ongoing almost two years after Wrexham Council secured ownership, with minimal use of the space since.
The Hippodrome, on Henblas Street, had been boarded up for over a decade after the building was burnt down in a mystery fire in 2008.
Over the years there had been hopes that the land could be redeveloped into housing or commercial space in a bid to regenerate the area.
After more than a decade of an eyesore in the city centre, in January 2022 Wrexham Council announced that it had secured ownership of the land, promising “to make sure that the spot is put to best use” by providing a wider benefit to the city centre.
Speaking at the time Leader of Wrexham Council, Mark Pritchard said: “Having taken ownership of this site, we are now in control of its future.
“We aim to make sure that the spot is put to best use, and benefits town centre trade.
“This is the first of many purchases within the town where we will be looking at acquiring redundant properties that have been sitting empty for too long.
“I’m really pleased with the purchase of this plot of land, although it had taken longer than we would have liked.”
The site played a key role in Wrexham’s ‘City of Culture 2025’ bid, with the site transformed into a play area to showcase to the judges.
However the land remains closed off to the public, with Wrexham Council confirming that it is only opened “for events of when requested by community organisations.”
Rob says on his new site “Are you really renaming the park?
Absolutely. ”
As the Welcome To Wrexham documentary has shown, Rob is a huge fan of the planning process and red tape locally, and no doubt will be looking forward to the full plans being submitted and possibly coming before the Planning Committee.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email [email protected]
