Middlesbrough’s former Register Office, a building which holds many treasured memories for people across Teesside, has now disappeared from the town skyline.
Work began to demolish the building (picture above), which is on Elm Street between the Civic Centre and Combined Court and closed in 2015, at the end of May.
The site is now a key part of the masterplan to regenerate Middlesbrough and Ashall Projects plans to build 200,000 sq ft of office development to the east of Centre Square, which will create 1,500 new jobs.
The first of the five new Grade A office blocks will be built on the site of the former Register Office.
Mark Ashall, of Ashall Projects, said: “This is an important step in the progress of the wider development and regeneration taking place within Middlesbrough. Centre Square is set to create a new distinctive commercial hub at the cultural and civic heart of Middlesbrough, integrated with high quality public realm, green space and local amenities - a desirable place to work, visit and relax.”
Cllr Charlie Rooney, Middlesbrough’s Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for City Centre Strategy, said: “There will always be some sadness when a building that holds so many memories for so many people comes down but we are now at a new start for Middlesbrough.
“The new Register Office in the Town Hall is easily more welcoming and picturesque and the new office developments are a game-changer in getting us from where we are to where we want to be which is the city centre and economic heart of the Tees Valley region.”
Centre Square and the surrounding areas have a huge part to play in Middlesbrough Council’s investment plans.
Over the next four years the Council is committed to an injection of £74 million into a series of developments as part of the town’s far-reaching Investment Prospectus.
The aim is that this confidence in Middlesbrough’s growing stature as the city heart of the Tees Valley will act as a catalyst for the creation of 5,000 new jobs in the town, in tandem with more than £600 million of inward investment from the private sector and other parts of the public sector.
