VIDEO: Imax watch: sea views are gradually being restored (From Bournemouth Echo)

VIDEO: Imax watch: sea views are gradually being restored

10:27am Wednesday 6th March 2013 in News By Arron Hendy

ONLOOKERS are taking the chance to get their last look at the remains of the Imax.

Demolition of the controversial building is gaining pace as the outside of the structure begins to disappear.

See inside the Imax as it was, browse our archive of pictures through the years and read all our coverage at bournemouthecho.co.uk/imax

Workers spent around three months dismantling and removing as many materials as possible that could be re-used and recycled, including hundreds of cinema seats taken away to be used by the Shelley Theatre in Boscombe and the council.

But since February 16 onlookers have been witnessing the exterior of the building on Bournemouth seafront coming down as the sea views from Bath Road are gradually restored.

Large sections of the front of the building have now gone so that the Pavilion end of the building is starting to clear.

The demolition continues to attract interest from passers-by and town centre residents are starting to see the benefits to their view.

Stanley Reeves, managing director of S&D Leisure, which runs the carousel on Pier Approach and the balloon in the Lower Gardens, lives nearby.

He said: “It’s great to see the Imax coming down.

“As a resident of the town centre my front window looks out over the gardens and the seafront so my view is being enhanced on a daily basis.”

Mr Reeves is concerned that the skateboarders who use the square will begin using the new open space.

“But the view is going to be fantastic,” he added.

In total 13,500 tonnes of building waste is being removed from the site, including 3,000 tonnes of steel and 8,000 tonnes of concrete.

An artist's impression of how the Pier Approach space could be used during the Bournemouth Air Festival.

The building is being replaced by an outdoor events arena which is expected to be officially opened on June 29.

A full programme of events is currently being drawn up for this new space.