The site of the new Bathurst Marketplace Shopping Centre is in the process of being excavated.

More than 55,000 cubic metres of soil, the equivalent of about 22 Olympic-size swimming pools full of dirt, is being taken away by a convoy of tip trucks.

The $60 million development by Sydney-based Restifa and Partners will have Woolworths as its anchor tenant and include a 573 space multi-storey car park.

According to Mark Middlebrook from Restifa and Partners, the start of the project will see excavation of one full basement level for the underground car park.

“Another level will be half inground and half on the Bentinck Street level because of the sloping nature of the site,” he said. “You will drive in from Bentinck Street to the car park and down one level to the ground floor basement car park, which is six metres deep at its deepest section.”

Mr Middlebrook said the basement level would be for public car parking and would have about 280 spaces.

He said a lift and travelator would link the retail area and the car park, with access from William Street via Pedrottas Lane and the old Carrington Square from Howick Street.

“Carrington Square will be completely refurbished as part of the development,” Mr Middlebrook said. “People won’t recognise it when it’s completed. It will become part of the new Bathurst Marketplace.”

Mr Middlebrook said 80 per cent of the excavation had been completed.

“The next thing you will see are footings and columns appearing and the forming of the first suspended carpark slab,” he said.

“We’re hopeful of completing the job to open before Easter next year. At the moment we’re running a little late because there’s been a bit of rain, but we’re confident of making up the time.

“We will follow an aggressive program to get it open.”

Garry McLeod from St Hilliers, the construction company building the complex, said the end result would be a modern, upmarket retail centre.

“Internally there will be terrazzo floor finishes with timber and plasterboard ceilings,” he said. “The shopping centre has been designed to take environmental concerns into account and there are currently about 30-35 people working on site at the moment.

“This will build to about 100-130 people at the peak of construction.”