Imax demolition: first glass to be smashed on Friday morning

Atrium: the first part of the building is set to be demolished on Friday Atrium: the first part of the building is set to be demolished on Friday

THE first glass on the front of the much-hated Imax on Friday morning as the demolition crew finally moves in.

Council leader John Beesley will be on hand to watch as the demoltion starts at 8.45am.

Members of the public are being asked to watch the action online at bournemouth.
gov.uk/waterfront for health and safety reasons.

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 moving eastwards. The main entrance will be the first section to be demolished. Two mechanical excavators will work in tandem to shear steel and remove sections bay by bay.

The building should be totally gone by the end of March. The new outdoor events space at Pier Approach will be completed by the summer 2013 and a scheduled programme of events will be announced in the Spring, says the council.

Comments(20)

Matthew_Y says...
1:47pm Wed 13 Feb 13

I didn't hate this building. I used to love having a reasonably priced meal in the pub at the top, with the wonderful views in good or bad weather.

raven13 says...
2:09pm Wed 13 Feb 13

"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.”

do they never learn? we don't want it re-developed we want it gone and left at that

Graham Rees says...
2:13pm Wed 13 Feb 13

My dream of its replacement is green lawns, some palm trees, a coffee bar, perhaps one drinks bar, and of course a tourist shop selling beach goods.
I wonder if that will happen?

Morrigan says...
2:16pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Why smash the glass? What ever happened to architectural recycling?

There are several local sites that sell such items, which is far better than smashing it and sending to landfill surely?

jobsworthwatch says...
3:16pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Morrigan wrote:
Why smash the glass? What ever happened to architectural recycling?

There are several local sites that sell such items, which is far better than smashing it and sending to landfill surely?
They could take the front off in one piece and relocate it to the upper gardens. Laid on its back with the ends closed off it would make a good butterfly farm....the further up the gardens the better, we certainly wouldn't want it in Durley Chine!

bbird says...
3:29pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Redevelopment? Must have missed that. NO WAY. Yes to lovely gardens, palm trees, a couple of good independent cafes with outdoor terraces to enjoy a cappuccino and the view.

Scoty2hotty says...
4:04pm Wed 13 Feb 13

“This is a historic moment for Bournemouth"

Really!!

Graham Rees says...
5:22pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Yes, Scoty... historic architecture which will span decades. Let's hope Bournemouth Council gets it right.

EGHH says...
5:31pm Wed 13 Feb 13

I expect the drunks will help on Friday night to break some more windows!

manyogie says...
6:41pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Auction of a place to break the first window, monies raised to Julia's House

Baywolf says...
7:39pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Yesssssss !!!

Tom 'Boscombe' Jones says...
10:20pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Does the echo work with the BBC PR dept. Certainly seems so to me.

gallantxxx says...
12:04am Thu 14 Feb 13

what a waste of a perfectly good building
7 million pound wasted
if you want a good sea view park your car & walk to the beach

jobsworthwatch says...
8:33am Thu 14 Feb 13

gallantxxx wrote:
what a waste of a perfectly good building
7 million pound wasted
if you want a good sea view park your car & walk to the beach
A perfectly good building for an industrial estate perhaps?

jobsworthwatch says...
8:44am Thu 14 Feb 13

An Idea for our Butchers Bakers and Candle stick makers!

Take that glass frontage off in one piece and put it in the sea at Boscombe over the top of whats left of the surf reef.......and Hey presto!....Instant surf reef and no sand bags to rip open!

boverboy says...
11:26am Thu 14 Feb 13

'Members of the public are being asked to watch the action online at bournemouth.
gov.uk/waterfront for health and safety reasons.'

So its OK for the Leader to go and see some breaking glass (nice picture shot no doubt) but not the public.
What Health and Safety issues if the job is being done correctly there should be no risks to the public in areas outside of the site.

theDmonster says...
11:54am Thu 14 Feb 13

I think I may be one of the only people who actually saw a film at the IMAX. I saw 2 films, back to back. The first was the 3D Titanic documentary - Ghosts Of The Abyss, and I think the other one was about snowmen. Which is weird, because it was definitely in the summer!

Bob49 says...
1:32pm Thu 14 Feb 13

gallantxxx wrote:
what a waste of a perfectly good building
7 million pound wasted
if you want a good sea view park your car & walk to the beach
dearie me

even when the council openly states -

"to redevelop the site as part of a wider scheme"

it still doesn't seem to sink in.

The view is merely a by product of clearing the site to build flats upon it, and the carpark beside it. Why do you think £10m of OUR money was spent.

We saw what happened at Boscombe seafront and there is no reason to doubt that is the intention - more so when they admit what the real aim is.

You have been warned.

Glashen says...
3:40pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Bob49 wrote:
gallantxxx wrote:
what a waste of a perfectly good building
7 million pound wasted
if you want a good sea view park your car & walk to the beach
dearie me

even when the council openly states -

"to redevelop the site as part of a wider scheme"

it still doesn't seem to sink in.

The view is merely a by product of clearing the site to build flats upon it, and the carpark beside it. Why do you think £10m of OUR money was spent.

We saw what happened at Boscombe seafront and there is no reason to doubt that is the intention - more so when they admit what the real aim is.

You have been warned.
But that assumes two things,
-
1) The council have a clue what they are doing and what their long term goals are.
-
2) The council can actually achieve these goals.
-
On their track record they don't have a clear plan and anyway couldn't make it happen if they had.
-
I don't think whether it is part of the council plan or not I shall ever see a substantial building on the IMAX site, as you say we have all been warned .

Bob49 says...
5:35pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Then I suggest you take a look a bit further along the coast at Boscombe and see what happened to publiclly owned.

Or maybe check back through the search facility and see where I posted up (more tha two years ago) that the intention was to build on that carpark.

It was fairly common knowledge around 'Bourne Avenue' then and events since have merely confirmed that 'knowledge'.

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