Radcliffe: Demolition started to make way for new Civic Hub

Parts of the building opposite Radcliffe Market have been reduced to rubble to make way for the new Civic Hub.

Machinery from Forshaw Demolition was spotted in the town on Friday, November 17.

The area surrounding the Radcliffe Piazza has been fenced off to the public however, the market is still open and accessible from the Lidl car park.

The area is expected to be the home of the new Civic Hub.

The hub was first proposed in 2021 and aims to provide improved leisure and public services to Radcliffe as well transforming the town centre as part of a wider regeneration effort.

Several buildings in the town centre, including the former TSB bank on Blackburn Street, are being demolished to make way for the construction of the hub.

As work begins on the site, opinions have been split with some sad to see the building go.

One person said: “It is quite sad to see, it has been there all our lives” and “Such a shame, Radcliffe as we knew it no longer exists”.

However, others said that Radcliffe ‘has to evolve and change with the times’ and that they are ‘looking forward to all the new facilities’.

Half of the funding for the £40m project was provided by the council in addition to £20m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund, which was secured in October 2021.

The Civic Hub will contain a number of amenities including a library, swimming pools, offices, and a cafeteria.

The council expects work on the hub to be complete by winter 2024.

Another site being demolished will be the existing school buildings and the temporary leisure centre on Spring Lane to make way for the Star Academy.

The campus is expected to be built by 2025 but 150 students will be enrolled for September, 2024, in the temporary building.

It is intended that the temporary school would be used for the first two academic terms up to the Easter break in 2025, when the first cohort of students would move to the new main school building for the summer term onwards.