Nottinghamshire County Council has announced a date for the long-awaited demolition of its ageing office block extension.
The authority has long planned to knock down the 1960s building next to County Hall in West Bridgford and says work will start on Monday, September 19.
Disposing of the building is expected to save taxpayers £178,000 a year in running costs and take around a year to complete.
Known officially as the CLASP building at County Hall, it was built in 1962 with a 50-year life expectancy.
Previous reports by Nottinghamshire County Council note “high levels” of asbestos in the building and a study is expected to look at exactly how the space created by demolition will be used.
Officers have also previously said it would cost between £7 million and £10 million to bring the offices up to modern standards, with demolition costing £1.3 million, but leading to a long-term overhead saving.
Councillor David Kirkham, chairman of the council’s finance and property committee, said: “We’ve invested in new ways of working over the last few years, which is making better use of space in our buildings and has allowed employees to serve the public more effectively and efficiently. This, in turn, has meant we can operate from fewer buildings and with reduced overheads by using less office space.
“The CLASP Block building has served the Council well for just over 50 years but is in need of significant investment to bring it up to modern standards. Demolishing it will save taxpayers money – which instead can be spent on frontline services – as well as providing an exciting opportunity to improve and redevelop the site.
“Although some inconvenience during the demolition works will be unavoidable, particularly for our staff, we have measures in place such as additional off-site car parking and equipping employees to work off-site, which will help keep disruption to a minimum.”
The site is surrounded by around 450 car parking spaces – some of which will be unavailable during demolition.
