Rishworth Street multi-storey to close on 15 July

​Rishworth Street multi-storey car park will close permanently on Saturday 15 July to prepare for its demolition at the end of August.

​The car park is being demolished as part of the Council’s redevelopment plans for the city centre’s historic Civic Quarter.

Additional long-stay car parking will be available on Carter Street and Quebec Street.

For more information about these car parks, and the other long-stay car parks across the city centre, visit www.wakefield.gov.uk/carparks 

 Cllr Denise Jeffery, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Regeneration said: “The car park is reaching the end of its lifespan and by demolishing it we hope it will help attract developers who are interested in investing in this part of the city.

“The multi-storey car park will be replaced within 12 weeks with a surface level long-stay car park, which will remain until a developer is found for the wider area.

“Safety is paramount during the demolition, and we ask that anyone who wants to observe the demolition does so via the council’s website where the it will be shown on a live web stream.

“On the day of demolition, a safety cordon will be put in place and unfortunately it will not be possible for people to watch it on site.”

The demolition is being carried out on a Sunday to help minimise disruption to local businesses and residents nearby. Following the demolition, a temporary surface-level car park will be constructed and will be open in time for the Christmas shopping period.

The works will be funded by a £1.1m grant from the Leeds City Region.

The exact time and date of the demolition is to be confirmed, but road closures will be in place and will be advertised in advance.

The Council has already contacted businesses and residents in the immediate vicinity of the multi-storey car park, and will be in touch again over the coming weeks to discuss how the demolition will affect them.

Cllr Jeffery added: “We apologise to local residents and businesses for any disruption that the demolition will cause. We have opted for this to take place on a Sunday to keep the disruption as minimal as possible and we will be contacting those in the local area to make them aware of the plans.”

There will also be no pay-and-display parking spaces available on Wood Street car park (directly behind the former police station) from Monday 17 July, as the car park will be used to accommodate the demolition company's compound. There are a small number of privately-owned spaces on the car park, which will remain in use to their owners.

ENDS