Futurist Theatre work - expect more noise but no more cost

Scarborough Borough Council and its contractor Willmott Dixon have agreed to look again for its plans and work to install steel sheet pile walls will begin before Christmas.

With the old theatre being demolished earlier this year, the original plan was for the existing cliff, which runs from King Street at the top to Foreshore Road at sea level, to be reinforced by a concrete wall along the full width of the site.

However to provide additional stability, an alternative construction method of steel sheet pile walls will be used, which will be installed along the width of the site and then further strengthened by perpendicular concrete walls at the north and south ends of the site.

The steel sheet pile walls will be finished with a brick face and sandstone render, which will match the finish of the originally planned concrete wall, so visually, there will be no difference in the final appearance.

The council says the extra work will not have any impact on the budget, but Willmott Dixon is advising neighbouring residents and businesses to expect some intermittent noise during the installation process, which has been approved by the council’s Environmental Health team in terms of expected noise levels.

Its site manager Russ Parks said: “While the revised method is expected to generate more noise than the original method,we will endeavour to keep it to a minimum.

"We ask our neighbours to bear with us while we undertake what is a very important step in ensuring the cliff is robustly reinforced and we thank them in advance for their understanding.”

Cllr Mike Cockerill, Scarborough Borough Council Cabinet member for major projects, said: “We welcome Willmott Dixon’s alternative plan to secure the integrity of the site without compromising the finished appearance and the project’s budget.”

This stage of the work will begin on December 10 and be carried out in the two weeks before Christmas.

The overall project to ensure the site is left in a cleared, reinforced and finished state, ready to accommodate future development, should be complete by the end of March 2019.