Plans to demolish artwork car park win approval

The four concrete sculptures depict parts of a car

A multi-storey car park featuring artworks that campaigners hope to save is to be demolished.

The pillars at the Abbey Walk car park in Grimsby incorporate modernist reliefs by artist and sculptor Harold Gosney.

North East Lincolnshire Council's cabinet this week approved the removal of the four-storey structure, to be replaced with a ground-level car park.

Ahead of the meeting, Kerry Henderson, of Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Civic Society, said she hoped the artworks could be saved.

Stewart Swinburn, the council's portfolio holder for housing, infrastructure and transport, said the council would meet Mr Gosney to see if they could be removed and preserved.

"Once we understand this, if there is a way forward, we can explore options about what to do with the artwork and whether, and how, any of it can be preserved for the future," he said before the meeting.

The four concrete reliefs depict parts of a car and were installed when the building was constructed in 1969.

The demolition and subsequent construction will cost between £1.5m and £2.5m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A number of empty shops on Osborne Street will be demolished to make way for the new bus station

A linked scheme to build a bus hub in Grimsby town centre has also been approved by the cabinet.

The council has earmarked an initial £3.6m for the work on the bus station, to be located between Osborne Street and Garden Street.

A number of empty shops have been bought and will be demolished to make way for the development.

Garden Street car park will close during the work on the hub, and the council will spend £150,000 to renovate Burgess Street car park.

The full cost of the project will become known only as technical designs are worked out.

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