Original post from CheshireLive
Crewe's Royal Arcade will be bulldozed in the late spring now contracts have finally been signed for demolition work to start.
Cllr Nick Mannion, portfolio holder for environment and regeneration, told Tuesday’s meeting of Cheshire East’s cabinet that the council had now signed contracts with Peveril Securities for the demolition of the shops on the town centre site.
“This includes the clock tower, although arrangements have been made to save the clock parts and transfer them to the care of Crewe Heritage Trust, for which you can thank Cllr Dorothy Flude,“ said Cllr Mannion (Lab).
He said hoardings would go up around the site in February and then internal works such as gas and electricity disconnections would be completed and the relevant surveys would be carried out to ensure the demolition is done safely.
The actual demolition, which is scheduled to take several months, will start in the late spring, early summer, Cllr Mannion told the meeting.
Cheshire East bought the Royal Arcade site in April 2015 for £6m when Michael Jones was council leader and the Conservatives ran the council.
The site includes 26 units on the west side of Queensway and the south side of Victoria Street.
Among the occupants at the time were BHS, Santander, Wetherspoons, Boots Opticians, Shoe Zone and Ladbrokes.
All have since either closed or relocated.
Also included in the site is Crewe Bus Station.
Cllr Mannion said the timetable regarding the demolition of the current bus station, plans for the temporary one and the building of the new bus interchange would be released within the next few weeks.
Plans for the regenerated town centre include an eight screen cinema complex, shops and leisure facilities including a 16 lane bowling alley.
A state of the art bus interchange is planned as well as a multi-storey car park with direct access to the retail and liesure facilities.
The scheme will be subject to the usual planning permission.
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