Shopping centre demolition to start next month

Further steps towards transforming the former Broadmarsh shopping centre site will be taken next month.

In July 2020, the lease for the former Broadmarsh shopping centre was handed back to Nottingham City Council after intu went into administration.

Since then, the council has reopened the right of way connecting the city centre to the train station and secured £12m in external funding for the first phase of demolition and masterplanning of the site.

Preparatory work will begin on site in mid-June, including relocating the walkway between Collin Street and Lister Gate to the east, to allow demolition of the western part of the former shopping centre building to begin.

Carried out by the council’s contractors Willmott Dixon Construction, demolition work is scheduled to begin this summer through to spring 2022, with initial works demolishing the centre from its junction with Carrington Street to the NCP Arndale Car Park.

Further demolition of the shopping centre is expected to follow this initial phase, subject to securing further funding.

Part of the demolition works will result in the creation of a new, permanent pedestrianised link between Collin Street and Lister Gate, with public realm improvements linking to those currently underway around the Broad Marsh area.

Work to construct new public spaces in the Broad Marsh area continues, with progress at Sussex Street, under the tram bridge next to the new College Hub, to install new paving, amphitheatre style steps and plant beds.

Paving work is also progressing outside the new Broadmarsh Car Park, Bus Station and proposed Central Library complex, with entrances to both the new car park and bus station taking shape.

Cllr David Mellen, leader of the City Council, said: “I’m pleased that we are in a position to announce this further significant step towards the transformation of the Broad Marsh site. I appreciate Broad Marsh is an area of contrasts at the moment – our great successes in building a modern, energy generating car park and bus station, the Nottingham College City Hub and the new public spaces we’re building located directly next to the currently unattractive, half-demolished former Broadmarsh shopping centre site.

“Thankfully, we were able to act quickly and secure £12m for the first phase of demolition for the Broadmarsh shopping centre and for further public realm, and work beginning soon will make a huge difference to the look and feel of the area alongside our other developments in the area and we can continue the crucial work of transforming this entrance into Nottingham.”

A total of £7.99m funding was secured from D2N2, the Local Enterprise Partnership, via the Government’s Getting Building Fund to begin demolition of the North West part of the former shopping centre building.

This funding will also support production of a new masterplan vision to start to transform the whole of the former Broadmarsh Centre.

A further £4 million from the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund, will be used to create an open street between Lister Gate and Collin Street.