OUR CITY NEEDS ONE OF THESE...
What next as demolition work begins on eyesore precinct?
AN arena could be built in the city centre as demolition teams prepare to clear a derelict shopping precinct.
Work has started at Hanley’s Eastwest Precinct with road closures expected next year when the task of dismantling the buildings begins.
While options for the seven-acre site off Old Hall Street are still under consideration, one vision is to create an arena capable of hosting anything from concerts to conferences.
Leaders at Stoke-on-trent City Council are analysing potential uses for the site which the authority paid around £4 million for.
Demolition experts Democon Group has a 40-strong team on the sites which take in the former Hanley Shopping Centre and the former bus station. Blackburn House and B&M are not part of the scheme.
Actual demolition will start in January with the whole site expected to be cleared by May.
Part of the complexity arises from the storeys which sit beneath the former bus station formerly used as loading bays. That space will be ‘filled’ using materials from the clearance.
Once flattened the site will be used as a car park while a permanent use of the land is decided upon.
Councillor Dan Jellyman, the city council’s cabinet member for regeneration, said: “This is more than seven acres when you put the two sites together. It is a big area but also represents a huge opportunity.
“With it being so large I think it needs to be something that will generate jobs and bring footfall. In my opinion the city needs an arena. Stoke-on-trent needs a large space for music concerts and conferences.”
Demolishing the site represents a major step forward following years of uncertainty. Developer Realis had acquired the East-west Precinct 14 years ago and once had plans for the £360 million City Sentral scheme.
However that plan was eventually scrapped and replaced with the scaled-back Unity Walk scheme. That development was abandoned in July.
Council leader Ann James said: “We want to bring stability as businesses were afraid to invest in Hanley. Now the shopping centre plan has gone the businesses can plan for the future.
“It is a large site and we hope to bring businesses in and maybe have some office space. We are also desperately in need of parking.”
Officials held a tour of the site to reveal the complexity of the clearance work. It has been so long since the areas were used, trees have began to grow while a huge amount of flytipping in the loading bays off the exbus station has also been uncovered.
Specialists had to be brought in to handle the removal of asbestos and pigeon droppings.
In the basement areas, workers have uncovered old newspapers, computer equipment, chairs, an old Nokia phone and even a pushbike.
Carl Westwood, director of Democon, said: “It’s a big job but a fairly straightforward operation. When it is cleared we will be left with a large hole and that will gradually be filled up with the material that comes from the demolition.”