Nottingham’s Broadmarsh car park is likely to be completely demolished instead of refurbished, the city council has announced.
The authority’s executive board will be told at a meeting next Thursday that knocking it down and rebuilding the current car park is a better – and in the long-term cheaper – option than refurbishing it.
Both demolition and remodelling had been on the table – but the council had not said which it preferred until Tuesday’s announcement.
Council Leader Councillor Jon Collins said: “There can be few people in the city that would be sorry to see the Broadmarsh car park go.
“There is a strong financial argument in favour of demolishing it and starting from scratch, so that we can develop a brand new facility and significantly reduce our maintenance bill.”
By knocking it down and starting again, the council says it can create a new development with shops and cafes in keeping with Intu’s planned redevelopment of the Broadmarsh shopping centre.
If given the final go ahead as expected next Thursday, demolition work could start within months and construction of the new car park would follow early in 2018, with completion planned for the end of 2019.
The new development would also create a new, more modern car park and bus station, the council said.
Dating back to the 1970s, the current car park also costs the council in ongoing maintenance work to patch its ageing concrete facade.
As part of the council’s wider investment in the Broadmarsh area, streets around the car park are being pedestrianised to create a more attractive entrance to the city centre from Nottingham Station.
Intu has already drawn up plans to spend £100 million redeveloping the shopping centre.
Work to change the road network around the area has already started, with the major part of the build expected to start this year.
The redevelopment is a key part in the ‘Southern Gateway scheme’, which includes a walkway from the centre to the train station and the pedestrianisation of Collin Street.
Cllor Collins added: “This [demolition] would allow us to provide new retail outlets in a much more pedestrian-friendly setting, as well as the kind of modern car park and bus station facilities that people expect when visiting a city like Nottingham, in a development which will complement the new-look shopping centre.”