A notorious grot spot in the capital could be brightened up this summer thanks to the commitment of some local volunteers.

Film maker and Arts Council member Dave Armstrong told Isle of Man Newspapers their idea is to commission local artists to produce art work that can be put on the hoardings around Villiers Square in Douglas to make the place look pleasanter.

The state of the area has been discussed a number of times by Douglas councillors, as well as being highlighted by the newspaper as one of the town’s notorious eyesores.

Mr Armstrong said: ‘We have been working on this for around three months now and it is under way. Our idea is to involve the community in producing a background piece of art work to cover all of that site.

‘Rather than it just being a drab board, we will commission artists to produce works to go on the boards,’ he said.

At present the matter is at the planning stage, but Mr Armstrong said he had asked artist Jimmy Duggan to produce some ideas for the hoardings. They are also hoping corporate sponsors might come on board and offer some support for the project.

‘Like other people, I’m also a member of the public and I walk past that site regularly,’ Mr Armstrong said.

‘I know a lot of artists have ideas on how they might brighten the place up.’

He said they had also received good support from Douglas Town Centre Management.

‘It would be nice if the interior could be opened up to display art work like sculpture as well,’ he said.

Currently work is close to getting underway. He said Mr Duggan is in the process of producing some impressions of what might go on the hoardings and work is to be done on the hoardings themselves to ensure they are in good repair. A list of possible artists is also being put together.

The college may be produced to enlist help from art students but the idea is also to draw the local community as a whole into the project. It might even be possible to run a competition to decide which art work is hung on the hoardings, Mr Armstrong suggested.

‘It is hard to give a precise timescale at the moment because it hinges on different things,’ he said.

‘But we hope to get started on the background soon. It would be nice to have something in place before TT, but these things take time.

‘It would be nice to involve people in producing some public art work that helps to generate pride in our town centre,’ he said.