14th February 2013
14th February 2013
The deconstruction team will start bringing the IMAX Waterfront building down from Friday, 15 February 2013.
Over the last few months the building has been stripped from the inside out, but from next week the public will finally be able to see the outer shell being removed, the building coming down and the famous sea views come back into sight once again.
Councillor John Beesley, Leader of the Council, said: "This is a historic moment for Bournemouth. Our residents have been telling us for years that they hate the building and would like to see the sea views restored and so I am delighted that we are now in a position to fulfil these wishes. We took advantage of low property prices to be able to buy the building when we did, and are delivering this project on time and on budget. From this Summer we will have our sea views back plus a new public open space at Pier Approach to enjoy until the market recovers and we are in a better position to redevelop the site as part of a wider scheme."
Interserve Construction Ltd will work from the west elevation moving eastwards, which will result in the main entrance being the first section to be demolished. Two mechanical excavators will work in tandem to shear steel and remove sections bay by bay.
The public can watch the building coming down via a live webcam here
In total 13,500 tonnes of building waste will be removed from site, including 3,000 tonnes of steel and 8,000 tonnes of concrete. 500 tonnes of waste has already been removed from the basement. 98% of the building waste is being recycled locally. Additionally, Interserve has procured several of the large subcontract packages from companies within the BH postcode.
The Waterfront building will be carefully dismantled from the outside over the next two months and by the end of March the building will finally be gone. The new outdoor events space at Pier Approach will be completed by Summer 2013 and a scheduled programme of events will be announced in the Spring.