Iconic city centre building to be demolished
Plymouth’s iconic Toys R Us building is to be knocked down, it has been comfirmed.
The man overseeing the regeneration of the city centre has revealed the glass fortress – which shut in March this year after its owners went into administration – will be demolished by the end of 2020 in the wider overhaul of area.
And it’s anticipated flats will largely go up in place of the once-booming children’s paradise, which sprung to life in Plymouth’s West End in the late 80s.
Plymouth Labour councillor Mark Lowry revealed the council – which bought the long-term lease on the site earlier this year – would look to transform the massive plot on Western Approach into a new community.
Cllr Lowry said the council is preparing long-term to tear down the Toys R Us complex and the section currently occupied by the British Heart Foundation’s Furniture & Electrical Store once its lease expires.
The sprawling car park – which re-opened in September following the toy giant’s demise – is expected to remain.
Cllr Lowry said the plans would help piece together the city’s long-awaited boulevard connecting the retail’s offer to the waterfront.
And it moves along a new vision for the city centre as a place where people live, work, play – and access health care.
“It will be a couple of years ,” he said.
“We need to demolish the site, get out to the planning and development stage, look at options around what we build there.
“Primarily, it will become a continuation of the boulevard with housing and businesses on it.
“It will be a couple of years before we commence the demolition of that.
“(What will go there) will be primarily residential.