Further significant 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 City Council has reopened the critical right of way connecting the city centre to the train station, held a Big Conversation about the site, the biggest ever conducted with over 3,000 individual responses to the call for ideas and secured £12 million in external funding for the first phase of demolition and masterplanning of the site, with the independent Broadmarsh Advisory Group made up of prominent local and national advisors helping shape a new vision for the Broad Marsh area.
Nottingham City Council has confirmed that 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, significant 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. This will reopen and strengthen links between the station and city centre which the Broadmarsh Centre presented a barrier between.
Work to construct new public spaces in the Broad Marsh area continues, with significant progress at Sussex Street, under the tram bridge next to the new College Hub, to install new paving, amphitheatre style steps and plant beds, including new trees as part of Nottingham City Council’s commitment to providing more greenery in the area.
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. Artist’s impressions showing the future prospects of the area have recently been installed at the site to showcase what the area will become
Councillor 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 £12 million 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.”
Nick Heath, director at Willmott Dixon’s Nottingham office, said “Re-imagining the Broad Marsh space will be a critical force in driving Nottingham’s growth forward and we are delighted that our skills have been called in to play a part in this crucial next step.
“We are now progressing with structural works, which mark the start of the transformative process. This scheme will provide the city with new and exciting fit-for-purpose spaces that create jobs and attract more people to the centre as a destination.
“As a local business ourselves, with an office close to the site, we’ll be ensuring that Nottingham-based businesses benefit from this work as we join forces with Scape to create a bright new future for the city.”
A total of £7.99 million 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 a new safe and attractive open street between Lister Gate and Collin Street.