Stenhousemuir
Stenhousemuir is just 4.5 miles from Falkirk town centre and in close proximity to the M9 and M876 junctions, giving easy access to the Kincardine Bridge, Stirling, Edinburgh and beyond. Access by train is also excellent with Larbert train station, just one mile from Stenhousemuir town centre, providing fast and frequent links to Falkirk, Stirling, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
With a population of nearly 10,500 and neighbouring Larbert home to almost 6,500, Stenhousemuir town centre has recently been redeveloped to better serve the needs of the local community. The main issue was that the town centre actually faced backwards onto the main road so there was no visibility of the town as people drove past and there was no town square or public space to hold events.
Following consultation with the community, a masterplan was developed to address the above issues, creating a new access road and town square visible from the main road. Additional changes included:
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a new 40,000 sq ft Asda food store with 360 parking spaces
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a new library with "wave" shaped roof overlooking Crownest Park (opened April 2008)
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a new Tryst Community Centre with dedicated car parking facilities (opened August 2010)
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a new medical centre
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more than 34,000 sq ft of retail space in three single story blocks
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a new football pitch and changing rooms
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landscaped civic spaces
The final stage of the redevelopment involved commissioning a public art piece which had been chosen by the public to ensure it would be meaningful to the local community, reflecting their rich history.
The chosen design is by artist Alan Potter and is called "The Heart of Stenhousemuir". It consists of two Highland cows fabricated in cast iron stood on top of a heart shaped mound, reflecting Stenhousemuir's history as a centre for cattle markets in the 18th century, when livestock buyers and farmers travelled from all over Scotland to attend the annual tryst gathering. The Highland cow is also the logo for the world famous McCowan's toffee factory, based in Stenhousemuir since 1922. The cast iron reflects the Carron Ironworks and the heart is a play on the word tryst, implying lover's tryst but also a reference again to the cattle tryst as it was known.
The artwork was unveiled at a special "Wrap it Up" event, celebrating the completion of Stenhousemuir's redevelopment in August 2010. Other events (PDF, 478KB)| are also held at Christmas time including a Christmas lights switch on and Aviemore reindeer event.