A block of disused public toilets in Newport is to be turned into a cafe surrounded by new gardens by September.
The public toilets on Chepstow Road, owned by Newport city council, were transferred to local charity group Maindee Unlimited last year.
Maindee Unlimited has since secured funding to regenerate the area known as the Maindee Triangle, between Chepstow Road and Livingston Place.
Read more: 'Overgrown' public toilets to be sold by the council - here’s what could be done with them
The charity is now seeking expressions of interest to develop a cafe that will form the hub of the Triangle and complement the Maindee shopping area.
The group said it is “restoring public toilet facilities to convert to a high spec the rest of the building into an architect-designed cafe space with indoor and outdoor space, surrounded by a newly landscaped nature garden”.
If you're interested in taking on the café you can email info@maindee.org or register your interest at https://www.maindee.org/the-triangle .
A number of buildings in Newport that were previously public toilets have been re-imagined creatively in recent years.
In 2018, the toilets on Alexandra Road in Pill were transformed into a 25-30 person theatre thanks to Janet Martin, who's been involved with the arts scene in Newport for nearly 40 years.
In 2015, the old disused toilets in Allt-yr-yn were reopened as the now popular Cafe at Ridgeway.
And in recent months Newport council also announced plans to declare the toilets on Caerleon Road surplus to requirements in order for it to be sold or leased out.
Having saved and taken over the running of the local library, Maindee Triangle is the charity's latest venture.
John Hallam, Trustee of Maindee Unlimited said: “Our goal is to support the development of a welcoming and inclusive cafe space in our multicultural and diverse community.
“A place where people can safely socialise and enjoy meeting up, surrounded by green space and nature. We’d like an operator to bring their own vision, ideas and initiative to the space and we will work in partnership to help them realise this vision.
“Here in Maindee, we have strong ambitions to become a much more sustainable community. We are greening our neighbourhood and looking at ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
“We also support our local businesses and are supporting the growth of more local circular economies. We see the cafe and the wider Maindee Triangle community garden as an intrinsic part of these wider aspirations.”
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