Moves to make Bath Street wider will get underway this week as part of the council’s regeneration plans to make Millbay happen.
A service ramp on the Pavilions site is to be ‘shaved off’ as part of a complex demolition programme that will enable the boulevard between the city centre and the sea to be built.
It is the next phase of development plans for Millbay and the West End and follows on from the successful demolition of the Two Trees pub and the old footbridge across Union Street, which was taken down last month.
The southern part of the boulevard has already been laid out and named Brunel Way as part of the mixed use development being delivered by English Cities Fund at Millbay.
Now work will start on the northern section along Bath Street.
Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet Member for Assets and city centre champion said: “There is a real sense of pace. We are on a mission to make Millbay happen and have been working behind the scenes to make sure each piece of the jigsaw works.
“This is all about widening Bath Street to create a broader boulevard that will, in time, become an attractive and safe walking and cycling route linking the waterfront and the city centre. We are slicing off part of the Pavilions site to give us the space we need.”
The route will eventually be lined with 300 new homes to the west and a new hotel development on the east, along with shops and offices on the front of the boulevard.
The whole feel of the boulevard is designed to be in keeping with its waterfront location.
The next phase of demolition – which is expected to take 16 weeks – will involve demolishing the service ramp to the rear of the Pavilions site, which is no longer used. Its removal is part of an eight metre tract of land being sliced from the site.
Pavilions Facilities Director Richard Findlay added: ‘’We’ve been working closely with Plymouth City Council on this project for many months and have welcomed the opportunity to be involved and contribute towards the delivery of the boulevard.
“M&E plant located under part of the service ramp has been relocated and provision is being made for alternative storage which will free up the ramp for demolition.
A new wall is being built inside the space under the ramp that will become the external wall when the demolition of the ramp is complete. It’s a complex project but the careful planning in the early stages has paid off and we are on track for completion in the spring of 2019.”