Futurist demolition: council sets the ball rolling

Councillors voted 22 to 21 in favour of demolishing the Futurist on Monday at the Town Hall, a building which has hosted many high profile names in the entertainment industry.

The council has released details today for the pre-construction work on the 2,155-seat venue on the agenda for Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

The cabinet is to approve the appointment of Willmott Dixon Construction Limited and give them a sum of up to £416,000 to undertake pre-construction work over a period of 30 weeks. The firm will also prepare a detailed design and quotation for a contract price for the demolition and stabilisation work.

They will also recommend spending £90,000 from the capital development reserve to appoint a project management, contract administration and supervisor of the Futurist demolition works.

On completion of the pre-construction services, the Council will then have the option (if the proposed contract sum is within the Council’s budget), to instruct Willmott Dixon to proceed with the delivery of the demolition and slope stabilisation works.

The cost of the demolition and cliff stabilisation work will amass to £4million altogether, with £2.5million coming from the capital development fund and the remaining £1.5million via a loan.

The Futurist, which closed in January 2014, will make way for a £20million investment from Flamingo Land for a major new tourist attraction.