Free public Wi-Fi, food trucks, market stalls and new landscaping are all part of a design concept for a $3 million overhaul of Charlestown’s Pearson Street Mall.

The Charlestown Innovation Precinct project will also include shade structures and seating, as well as environmental sensors to measure air temperature and quality in the area.

Live data from the sensors will be sent to an online interface via Lake Macquarie’s Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), with the results to shed light on how the built environment, traffic and other urban factors affect conditions at a local level.

Lake Macquarie council’s manager of assets management, Helen Plummer, said the mall would become a testbed for new technology and innovation.

“The mall acts as a pedestrian gateway to our city’s largest urban and retail hub,” she said.
“This reimagining of the space will capitalise on that significant potential.”

Some of the council’s staff will be at the mall on Thursday 15 August from 11am to 1pm to discuss the draft concept design and take feedback.

You can view it online via shape.lakemac.com.au/CHIP until Friday 30 August. Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2020, pending feedback, and be completed in early 2021.