A PROJECT to regenerate part of Glasgow by giving shop fronts a facelift has attracted the interest of nearly 100 traders.

Shopkeepers were urged to apply for a share of a £400,000 fund set aside to help breathe life into the East End.

The move is part of the Action Barras Calton (ABC) plan, which will see £3.5million council funding, plus investment from firms and agencies, ploughed into the area.

Applications for the shop-front scheme came flooding in and the council is now deciding how the cash will be allocated. The money will be used by businesses to improve signage and carry out improvements in a bid to attract more footfall.

Calton councillor Yvonne Kucuk said: "More than 90 people have said they are interested in the shop scheme.

"Now it's about the application process and we expect things will start to happen post-Christmas and into the New Year."

Next month, anyone with an interest in the area will be invited to the Barrowlands to see the firms and agencies involved, including Velocity, the art group launched in the lead-up to Glasgow 2014.

Ms Kucuk said: "We have had so much interest so we have decided to hold an open day at the Barrowlands to bring in every agency and invite the whole community.

"We'll have Velocity there, the police, the market holders, the residents, the shopkeepers, the Barras Trust - absolutely everyone involved.

"I know people are ­hearing things about what will happen but they haven't seen things yet.

"This will give everyone a clearer idea of the timescale and when they will see the changes."

The date of the open day is still to be confirmed but is likely to be in the first two weeks of December.

A Facebook and Twitter page has been set up to alert people about the updates.

Tom Joyes, manager of the Barrowland Ballroom and market, said retailers hoped the shop-front scheme would attract more people.

He said: "This is a wee shot in the arm for us. We have had a hard time of it for a very long time. The market has suffered, footfall is down and peoples' shopping habits have changed.

"We are hoping that when the place is spruced up a bit then more people will come down and try us again."

Market supervisor Willie Florence said: "There is a build up of excitement, that is for sure."

Among the other projects taking place is a plan to create a park at Gallowgate, the filling in of gap sites, and public artwork.

Last week we reported that the council had lodged plans to transform a derelict site which was home to the flea market Schipka Pass into an urban green space.

Mr Joyes, who has worked at the market for 28 years, said he hoped the action plan would do for the East End what the Glasgow Garden Festival did for the riverside in 1988.

It attracted millions of visitors and kick-started Glasgow's regeneration.

He said: "We are hoping that the plan can have the same sort of effect on us that the Garden Festival had around the Clyde.

"We do want to see a legacy from this."

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "There was significant interest from local business in the Barras and Calton about funding for shop improvements.

"Work on this project - an important element of The Calton Barras Action Plan - will begin in early 2014."

rachel.loxton@eveningtimes.co.uk