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The Prince looks at children’s entries in the New
Journal sponsored competition in 1988 |
SPECIAL REPORT: AS THE TOWN
HALL PREPARES TO GIVE THE GO AHEAD TO A £2BN SCHEME THAT
WILL CHANGE KING’S CROSS FOREVER, RICHARD OSLEY INVESTIGATES
18 years on and pupil's dreams of housing
are up in smoke
CHILDREN dreamed of how King’s Cross should look in a competition
sponsored by the New Journal and admired by Prince Charles.
But, 18 years on, few of the imaginative ideas produced by the
class of 1988 have been taken on board.
The King’s Cross 2000 competition – named because
back at the end of the 1980s it was thought the redevelopment
would be complete by the millennium – was entered by primary
school pupils from across Camden.
It led to an exhibition at the St Pancras Chambers in King’s
Cross which received national newspaper coverage and was attended
by Prince Charles.
Given his interest in the area, the New Journal yesterday (Wednesday)
agreed to send the new designs to the Prince’s office at
Clarence House to see what he thinks.
Drawings and written work from King’s Cross 2000 have been
saved by Marian Kamlish, a former teacher at Primrose Hill Primary
School who helped organise the contest. They now serve as pertinent
historical documents. Students asked for more leisure facilities
and extra places to play. They also wanted homes so they could
live near their friends and family.
One pupil dreamed up the idea of putting a disco, bingo hall
and museum in the gas cylinders on the site.
Another said the whole site could be flooded to create a boating
lake and underwater buildings, while a fellow student said the
land could be a giant maze.
Amongst the youngsters asking for new homes one supplied an
entry with touching innocence: “Great houses are for posh
people. But some great houses are for old people and the old
houses are for poor people and I do not think it’s fair
because some people have to live in a burnt down house.”
Only one student said he wanted more offices to be built on
the site. He said: “The people I want to work in there
are people with education.”
Mrs Kamlish, who worked on the project with community activist
Terry Hargrave, said: “The children showed real imagination
– they came up with some great ideas. It is a shame that
the developers don’t have the same imagination for King’s
Cross.” |
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