Art deco building on Fleetwood seafront set to be going, going, gone

Preparation work for the demolition of the Marine View apartments building in Fleetwood is now under way.

Owners Regenda Homes successfully gained planning permission last year to both demolish the original 1930s building, known as the Marine View apartments, and build the new block.

The new building, designed by architects Paddock Johnson of Liverpool, will retain many of the art deco features of the original but include more modern amenities.

The project will consist of 16 one and two-bed affordable apartments for the over 55s.

How the new building, on The Esplanade, will look

This week, preparatory work was underway on the site to enable the start of demolition.

However, before work on the new building starts later in the year, an application has been lodged with Wyre planners to amend part of the scheme.

The current application is for a variation of the approved parking layout, as there is now a need to include a small electricity substation in the corner of the site.

Architects Paddock Johnson, for Regenda Homes, stated in the original planning application: "The apartments are split over four floors in a single block.

"The building sits on a similar footprint to the original building with a reduction to the south to improve parking.

"The proposed building reimagines the art deco style of the original building and uses materials familiar to the area and the building it replaces, with red brick and buff features, including surrounds and balconies."

The development is part of Regenda housing group’s £10m pledge to improve its tenants’ homes in Fleetwood.

When the new plans were unveiled last summer, the art deco designs shown in the artist’s impression received a postive feedback from Fleetwood residents.

The original Marine View building was once Fleetwood’s third biggest hotel, The Cumberland, and was a prestigious amenity in the town./

It later became a Lancashire County Council care home and then apartments.

Fleetwood Civic Society hoped the building could be saved from demolition, given its classic 1930s design.

But in recent years the building had started to show its age, with a number of upgrades needed.

Regenda said all options had been explored but plans to try and retain it were not deemed cost effective.