Colourful lights, bright seats and a water-play area will be installed in Crown St Mall as the council tries to lure shoppers back to the weary precinct.The city's top brass insists the plan is more vibrant than a previous proposal, which retail big guns slammed as "disappointing" and "clinical and sterile".Wollongong City Council yesterday applied to start work on the $14.2 million mall makeover, which includes removing the "birdcage" and other obstacles, to allow shoppers to wander more easily between shops.Work will begin in early 2012 and will be fast-tracked for completion in three years, rather than the previously mooted five.The plan provides rest areas and events spaces, and aims to transform the mall into a "safe, secure and delightful night-time place".Trees will line the mall, interspersed with open squares and shaded zones.Seating with timber elements will be installed and the amphitheatre retained, with a new stage to encourage more entertainment.For children, a water-play plaza in front of the Church on the Mall will squirt jets of different heights into paved areas. A musical "hopscotch" will be built into pavers west of the Church St intersection.At night, lighting will operate in either "social mode" or a brighter "secure mode", and feature lighting will display varying colours.The city centre has reportedly lost 20 per cent of its retail market share over 20 years, largely due to suburban shopping malls.Council administrator Col Gellatly hoped the overhaul would win back a share of disaffected shoppers."We are providing the underlying infrastructure for what we believe the retailers require to get more shoppers in," he said."It's not outlandish ... but we feel that it's value for money in what it does for the city centre."Public submissions will be invited, before the project is determined by the Joint Regional Planning Panel.Council funding will be allocated over the next three years, and both state and federal funding will be sought.The council has previously ruled out opening the mall to traffic, but says the new plan allows for that option in future.The mall's retail heavyweights roundly panned an earlier draft of the proposal last year. Yesterday, David Jones retail development general manager Antony Karp praised the revised plan but called for a reopening to traffic of the mall's eastern end, between Church and Kembla streets."David Jones would have liked to see a grander scheme emerge, but it's a good starting point," he said.An Illawarra Property Council submission described the previous plan as "boring", although its chairman David Laing praised the council for investing in the CBD.He called for state and federal funding to see work finished more quickly.