Published: Monday, 27th February 2023
Parliament Square will begin to change dramatically this week - when the demolition of the former T J Hughes begins to make way for new market and events space development.
The revamp of Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre is now well underway, with plans to turn the area into a multi-purpose site with leisure, retail, offices, the new market and a new business enterprise centre for the borough.
Machinery arrived on site last week, following significant work to prepare for the demolition project, and work is set to get underway to take down the T J Hughes section on Monday 27 February.
Councillor Amanda Chadderton, Leader of the Council, said: “This is an exciting milestone in our ambitious regeneration plans, which are now progressing at pace and making Oldham an even better place where people want to live, work and visit.
“We are grateful to the support of businesses around the site – who we’re working closely with during these changes to ensure they can continue operating successfully while we complete this vital project.
“We appreciate that this will be a challenging time for those who work and run businesses close to this area and we value their support, as these works are vital to create a vibrant Oldham town centre of the future.”
This is part of the wider town centre re-development – repurposing the empty space in Spindles to create a 450,000 sq. ft development that will be home to a new space for Tommyfield Market, a food court, an event space, offices, and co-working space for local enterprises and businesses.
Alongside this, work is taking place in other areas of the town centre: to repurpose the Old Library into a new public gallery, community space, as well as a council chamber, and the fitout is under way to turn the Egyptian Room into a modern food hall.
During the demolition work, hoardings around the former T J Hughes will be extended, there will be noise disruption and additional road closures.
Demolition of TJ Hughes begins on Monday 27 February, with works within the site lasting for approximately 12 weeks.
The sequence of works will start from the top of Parliament Square, near Yorkshire Street, working down towards the Ashcroft Street side of the building.
During the demolition period, there will be management techniques in place to reduce the disruption to the environment and surrounding businesses.
The existing site will need to be extended from mid to late March 2023, with a road closure and diversion in place for the remainder of the demolition period up to May 2023.
This is to allow the demolition machine to work within this area whilst maintaining safety. Road closures and diversions will be needed to allow the demolition site to be extended. In addition, Town Square Car Park will have to be closed and all parking will be moved to Spindles Car Park for the duration of the road closure.