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New council office contract goes to tender

Date published: 09 July 2009

Rochdale Council have placed an official notice to attract a building contractor for its new £50 million municipal offices.

The riverside development will provide a new library and information centre, public customer services, training and conference facilities together with accommodation for council, NHS and private sector staff.

The current Municipal Offices, known locally as the ‘Black Box’, built in the mid 1970’s, will be demolished, together with the adjacent bus station.

Council Leader Alan Taylor said: “There is wide agreement that the demolition of the current municipal building will greatly benefit Rochdale town centre and it is also necessary to clear a site for new retail development. Our proposals are an important catalyst in the regeneration of that area. The plan includes attracting complimentary private sector investment with cafes, bars and restaurants. Many other towns and cities make use of their water-ways as business and tourist locations and we want to make more of the impressive river that runs through the town centre and bring it back to life for residents and visitors to enjoy.

“The new building will also be much more efficient to run and maintain which will enable us to save money in the longer term.”

To be completed in 2012, the building will be built on the former Yelloways bus depot site on Smith Street, part of a wider scheme to redevelop and revitalise the town centre’s previously hidden riverside area.

Roger Ellis, Chief Executive of Rochdale Council said: “Completion of the new council headquarters along with a library, customer services and office space for thousands of staff will be a significant milestone for the borough, with the retail development to follow, the transport interchange and the arrival of Metrolink. All this will go a long way to revitalising the town centre. These new projects and developments will undoubtedly have a massive effect on Rochdale and create a town to be proud of, and this new office development is a key element of this.”

Comments

Sorry to be the sole voice of doom, I fail to see how a creation of office soley for the use of the council wil benefit me as a member of the public. I dont work for the council, there nothing wrong with the library which we have. Why cant these offices be built on Kingsway and more quality retail space created instead/

We can't fill the empty shops we already have so why build even more. Why can't Council staff be placed in empty buildings that the centre of town already has,Isn't the old Newgate House were Social Security use to be still empty ?

Sure, the black box is ugly but it is relatively modern and serves its purpose. Far better to spend the money on completely new facilities that the town currently lacks.

This is a massive amount of money (think what that could do to health, education, sport and the arts in the borough), the development will cause huge disruption, and the project itself will distract time, money and efforts that could be directed into resolving more tangible problems in the whole town.