Final stage of Cavendish House demolition to start
The final stage of the demolition of Dudley eyesore Cavendish House is finally underway.
The empty office block, visible to thousands of motorists a week using Duncan Edwards Way, has blighted the town for more than two decades.
With its smashed windows, boarded up entrances and austere metal fencing, the site was been earmarked for demolition.
It will be knocked down to make way for an ambitious £82 million retail and housing scheme.
Demolition equipment rumbled onto the site today, ready for the final stage to bring the building to the ground.
WATCH the demolition work:
Demolition experts have been on site for several weeks, stripping out the interior of Cavendish House.
But now, a giant claw will start breaking up the exterior of the building in stages – beginning with the side facing Duncan Edwards Way.
The move signals a major step forward in Dudley's regeneration proposals which also includes the Midland Metro extension.
As well as Cavendish House, a number of other surrounding buildings are set to be knocked down. They include the former B&Q building, the former Rickshaw restaurant, a taxi office, a disused scout hut and the former Metro Bar pub.
The project received a boost when West Midlands Mayor Andy Street stepped in with funds for the tower block’s demolition. The West Midlands Combined Authority was expected to provide £700,000 for the project.
Dudley Council leader, Councillor Patrick Harley, said: "People have had to put up with this eyesore block for decades and now it will finally be demolished.
"It is taken a lot of hard work to get to this point, but we are now on cusp of a major regeneration plan which will change the Dudley skyline for ever.”
The long-running saga over Cavendish House – the 1970s-built former base of the Inland Revenue – has long been a cause of frustration in the town and politicians and residents have been calling for it to go for years.
The plans for demolition were backed by Dudley Council in April 2019. Cavendish House has been empty since the 1990s.
Former Dudley North MP Ian Austin handed a petition into the authority in October 2019, which amassed more than 1,300 signatures, calling on them to speed up to process and get on with the demolition.
