Artist impressions of Birmingham’s first city centre park were unveiled yesterday.

The £12 million Eastside City Park will be a mile-long, shaped like a hockey stick and run through the heart of the new Eastside development from Moor Street Street Station to Eastside Locks.

Work is due to start in January on the park which will become Birmingham’s “green lung”.

At one point it was feared the project would not go ahead when the city council’s bid for Lottery money failed.

But the council decided to press ahead, paying £11.3 million of the £12.2 million costs itself, with £850,000 coming from Section 106 planning agreements money.

The construction and maintenance of the park will create 12,000 jobs and bring £2.7 billion of investment into the city.

Philip Singleton, assistant director city centre developments, said the project would go before Cabinet in September to be signed off and was expected to receive final planning permission the same month.

Work would start in January 2010, with completion the following year.

“This will be the first major city centre park in Birmingham for 125 years,” he told members of the regeneration scrutiny committee.

It will be divided into seven themed segments with a water feature and walkway running throughout linking them all.