Sandwell Council is seeking to secure a £1.3 million grant from the West Midlands Combined Authority to enable it to demolish a West Bromwich car park to enable the future redevelopment of the site.
The ageing multi-storey car park in Bull Street, which was opened as part of the Queen’s Square shopping centre development in the early 1970s, was closed in October and is set to be demolished in the near year.
Demolishing the car park – which has become too costly to maintain – will pave the way for new development boosting the Bull Street end of the town centre.
The car park has not been fully operational since the upper levels and the lifts became unserviceable about four years ago and had attracted anti-social behaviour including dangerous car racing.
A Sandwell Council spokesperson said: “The car park was in a very busy part of the town in the early days of the shopping centre but in recent years it has been costly to maintain and no longer meets shoppers’ needs.
“After car park is demolished the site will become a vital part of the jigsaw of development activity planned for the town centre area by our regeneration team.
“This will help us to revitalise that part of the town and improve things for local people and visiting shoppers.”
The proposals to accept a grant from the West Midlands Combined Authority is set to be discussed at the council’s Cabinet on 20 November.
A report to Cabinet by Amy Harhoff, director for regeneration and growth, said the demolition could create up to 14,772 square metres of floor space for new developments.
The project aims to achieve comprehensive regeneration of the Bull Street area, a key gateway site which was vital to ensuring the town’s ability to grow a more mixed and inclusive economy, she said.
