Two Nottingham car parks have today (July 3) opened while the Broadmarsh Car Park is knocked down and redeveloped.
Notts TV reported last month that around 870 car parking spaces would be lost on the south side of Nottingham city centre after Nottingham City Council agreed to demolish the car park, which dates back to the 1970s.
The Broadmarsh Car Park will close on July 10 and the new open air car parks on Canal Street, called Sheriff’s Lodge and Broadmarsh East, will provide spaces for 280 cars.
But the Broadmarsh Car Park has room for 1,150 spaces, 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.
Plans for the size and position of the new car park have since been drawn up by Nottingham City Council.
Broadmarsh East is beneath the tram lines and will eventually be the site of a new college; Sheriff’s Lodge is located further west.
Beyond that, motorists will be expected to use existing car parks elsewhere in the city on the above map, or find a different way of getting in and out of town.
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.
The entire project is expected to transform the area by 2020, but also create disruption for motorists and bus passengers.
The entire car park demolition and re-build will cost £35-40 million.
The old car park should be gone by Christmas 2017 and the re-build will start almost immediately, to be completed in late 2018.
A city council spokesman said: “The new car parks, at Sheriff’s Lodge and Broadmarsh East, reflect the demand for shoppers parking identified as part of the plans to demolish and rebuild the Broadmarsh Car Park.
“Nottingham City Council had some staff who would park at Broadmarsh, like social workers who need their cars for work, but they have been relocated to car parking at Eastcroft Depot, London Road, and won’t be using these new car parks.”
Anyone requiring more information about alternative car parks in the city can find it here.
