Everything must go (From This Is Wiltshire)

Everything must go

3:01pm Thursday 24th January 2008

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DESPITE encountering a few snags, the redevelopment of the former Co-op shop in Devizes Market Place is staying close to schedule.

The huge 65-tonne crane brought in to complete the demolition of the unloved building has spent the last week safely reducing it to rubble.

It is the largest earth-moving machine in the country, with a reach of 120ft when its telescopic arm is fully extended.

Derek Poole, contracts manager for developers Gaiger Brothers, said: "We needed something that could get in to dismantle the building without moving onto the floor of the building itself.

"The reason is that there is a basement and, although it is filled with rubble, the concrete floor would not take the weight of a normal crane."

The other main snag is that the timber-framed wall of the 18th century Black Swan Hotel next door relied on the more modern brick wall of the Co-op shop to keep it upright.

Huge steel buttresses, extending into the basement, were brought in to provide the necessary support.

Mr Poole said: "We will need to retain the wall of the shop and it will be incorporated into the new build."

It is expected that the last vestiges of the 1936 building will be consigned to history by the first week in February.

Another local firm, Renelec, will come in to complete the ground works from February 11.

Then Potterne architect Peter Kent's vision of the future of Devizes will start to rise on the cleared site.

The front ground floor of the building, which will be faced with Bath stone, will incorporate between two and six retail units.

Behind and above that there will be office and residential space.

Snuff Street is closed during the major reconstruction work but Wiltshire County Council has indicated it may apply to semi-pedestrianise it. As yet, there has been no application from the county to do so.

It is expected that the development will be completed by the middle of 2009.

There is still no indication of what kind of stores will be occupying the site. Estate agents Kavanaghs is marketing the various units.

The One Stop/Co-op site is the last element of the North Gate area, which Kennet District Council has been trying to develop over the last eight years or so.

The former cattle market has now been redeveloped as a McCarthy and Stone retirement complex and work is due to start soon on a block of flats on the former Devizes Motor Company site in New Park Street.

A restaurant and office complex has recently been completed on the vacant lot in Northgate Street and it is also being marketed.

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