Work to demolish one of Stirling’s most unloved buildings will begin within the next fortnight.
Stirling Council’s former New Viewforth headquarters has stood for little more than 41 years but the decision to consign them to the history books was taken in 2012.
Written off as a “brutalist 1960s office block” and with predictions that it would be both “challenging” and “expensive” to reuse, its fate was sealed following heated debate.
The financial realities of bringing an inflexible complex up-to-date were said to be too great, with estimates putting needed maintenance at £4 million, with a further £5m for modernisation.
Retaining the empty building could also have resulted in the council paying itself £350,000 in business rates each year.
The site has now been fenced off for a number of weeks while works have been undertaken inside the building to remove recyclable and hazardous materials, including large amounts of asbestos.
Work to tear down the building will begin this month, with the south side of the New Viewforth complex first to go.
The basements and former bunker that sit underneath the footprint of the building will be filled in with the rubble from the demolition and then grassed over.
The site will then be marketed by Stirling Council under a development scheme that allows for housing and mixed use.
Opponents claimed that the building could have been reused to benefit the city centre through providing commercial space or by its conversion into a hotel.
Conservative councillor Neil Benny, who represents the Stirling West ward on Stirling Council, has, however, long supported demolition.
“It will be great to see, at long last, the end of this unloved and much derided 1960s building that has blighted the Stirling skyline for too long,” he said.
“To see action is great, although I had hoped for it to be done sooner.
“Removing New Viewforth means our officers will serve the people of Stirling in buildings that are far more accessible and welcoming. Not only that, but they are significantly cheaper to run.
“Once the building comes down we can look forward to a positive future use of the site that will provide houses in keeping with the architectural style of Stirling and the Kings Park in particular.”
Opponents of the demolition will now wait to see whether their prediction that the site will sit unused for years comes to pass.
Council staff were moved to the adjacent Drummond House and a number of other council buildings across the city in 2013. The listed Old Viewforth building will remain.