Around 870 car parking spaces will be lost on the south side of Nottingham city centre while the Broadmarsh Car Park is knocked down and redeveloped.
Nottingham City Council agreed to demolish the notorious monument of 1970s design at an executive board meeting on Thursday.
Redeveloping the car park is the first part of a £250 million transformation of the south side of Nottingham city centre, which includes a complete overhaul of the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre by owners intu.
Plans released after Thursday’s decision show a total of 280 new car parking spaces being provided at open air car parks on Canal Street buring the demolition and rebuild – but Broadmarsh has room for 1,150, meaning there will be a loss of 870 while the new multi-storey car park is built.
Instead maps point motorists to alternative car parks across town – the next closest multi-storey to the Canal Street car parks is the Arndale/Maid Marian Way car park – with 412. Further south, Nottingham Station’s car park has 950 spaces.
The entire project is expected to transform the area by 2020, but also create disruption for motorists and bus passengers.
Approving the demolition, council leader Jon Collins said: “This is the first part of what is going to be a very significant development, and it has been a long time coming.”
He added: “It’s going to be two to three years where there are going to be these changes for people who are driving across the city and close to the city centre.
“We can’t do a project like this without there being some impact, but in three years time, I’m sure they [people] will say ‘yes it’s not been great while it’s been happening – but it has been worth it’.”
The decision means demolition work will start soon after the car park closes on July 10 and the structure is expected to be gone by Christmas.
Here’s how the plan will unfold;
When will the car park shut?
The current Broadmarsh car park will close on Monday, July 10.
Where will people be able to park instead?
Two new open air car parks are being opened nearby off Canal Street. One, being called ‘Broadmarsh East’ is beneath the tram lines and will eventually be the site of a new college. It will have 180 spaces. A second, further west, is called Sheriff’s Lodge, and will have 100.
Beyond that, motorists will be expected to use existing car parks elsewhere in the city on the below map, or find a different way of getting in and out of town.
What will happen to the bus station and its stops?
There will essentially be no permanent bus station during the demolition and re-build. Instead stops which are inside the station will be moved to surrounding streets including Collin Street, Canal Street and Friar Lane in town. This will affect 22 bus services and has been outlined in the map below.
How will traffic be affected by the work?
The council says delays are inevitable during the rebuild and demolition – especially as a lane will be lost on Collin Street to make room for the work. However it is hoped traffic flow measures such as new city red routes – where vehicles cannot stop – will help ease the pain.
What will the new car park look like?
As the council has gone for a re-build instead of a refurbishment of the current structure, this isn’t clear yet. Designs will need to be approved later in the year. But it will be built to complement the style of the new-look shopping centre and the council is looking into whether it makes financial sense to put some flats on the top of it. Early impressions drawn up when refurbishment was possible show this kind of look;
When will it be finished?
The old car park should be gone by Christmas 2017 and the re-build will start almost immediately, to be completed in late 2018.
How much is it going to cost and how will it be paid for?
The entire car park demolition and re-build will cost £35-40 million. The city council says it will fund the build from cash from car parking fees and a mixture of Government and EU grants. This means it won’t need a council tax rise, or to take money from other building projects, to pay for the work.
