WHERE there's Hope Street, there's Hilary Burrage.
Next week men in suits and civic grandees will line up and grin to mark the £3m facelift of the famous thoroughfare linking the city's two cathedrals.
But they know, as do I, that prime credit must go to the woman who arrived in Liverpool on decimalisation day - February 15, 1971 - and has spent the interim 35 years realising a dream to give Liverpool a decent looking recognised arts quarter based around Hope Street.
The road runs along the natural brow of the city: "It's quite a climb to the top. That's why they nickname it the Acropolis," notes Hilary.
However, she would prefer it to be hailed as the new South Bank, a reference to the cluster of London cultural institutions, including the Festival Hall and National Theatre beside the Thames.
Hope Street has some impressive credentials. It is home to the Philharmonic, the Everyman, the old art school, various other university faculties as well as the cathedrals.
Near at hand, and within the half-mile by quarter-mile area designated as the epicentre of artistic activity, is the Unity Theatre.
Road re-surfacing, wider paving, new seating and lamp-posts capable of carrying banners and hanging baskets are among improvements which Hilary says "will now make people realise it's something special".
