PROPOSALS to bring a ten pin bowling alley to a town centre have been revealed in a bid to transform an empty retail building into a leisure facility.

The former site of Darlington’s TK Maxx, off Crown Street, has been earmarked to be split into three separate retail spaces, with a fourth section set to house a bowling alley.

The Northern Echo:

The "Cornmill Cubed"shopping area will be made up of shipping containers. Picture: DBC

The application also includes plans to stack a “collection of shipping containers” to the rear of the building, overlooking the River Skerne, to provide more shopping facilities for residents.

New River, the owners of the town’s Cornmill Shopping Centre, formally submitted the application this month, with Darlington Borough Council’s planning applications committee due to discuss the plans this summer.

The property investment firm acquired the former TK Maxx building and its multi-storey car park in 2016.

The plans also propose an external mezzanine deck to the rear of the bowling alley set to occupy the south end of the building closest to Crown Street’s junction with Stonebridge.

In the application submitted on behalf of New River by Manchester-based architects, Corstorphine Wright, the applicant said: “TK Maxx have since vacated the property and moved to Darlington Retail Park, off Yarm Road.

“This move has opened up the opportunity for New River to move forward with exciting plans to introduce leisure uses into the area to complement their retail offer in the Cornmill Centre.”

They added: “The appearance of the building will remain largely the same as existing after the development has been completed.”

A separate planning application submitted by New River details the company’s plans to use shipping containers as retail or leisure space in two locations on the banks of the River Skerne.

An artist’s impression carries the branding of “Cornmill Cubed” on the side of the containers that would be positioned near Stonebridge and a footpath bridge over the Skerne next to Sports Direct.

The application states: “The proposed development involves the sitting of a collection of shipping containers in the landscaped areas of the former TK Maxx site, between the service access road and the bank of the River Skerne, to provide flexible, multi-use floorspace.”

The proposals also include 25 cycle hoops to provide space to park 50 bicycles at the site.

The application can be viewed online by visiting darlington.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/planning/