A town centre road will be closed this week to allow the demolition of a building.
Darlington Borough Council is carrying out work this week on East Street to demolish a former nightclub and bowling alley, which was most recently used by Sports Direct.
The work has been ongoing for some weeks but East Street is closed this week to allow for the demolition of the parts closest to the road.
The closure will be in place until Friday, July 29 to provide a safe working area and an exclusion zone for demolition.
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There is a diversion route in place. Access to the East Street car park is via the A167 St Cuthbert’s Way.
Work has been underway there since May, with bulldozers moving onto the site in June.
The warehouse in Darlington, which was previously also a night club and bowling alley, has been vacant for some time and has been an eye sore for several years.
Previous plans to turn the building into a gym fell through and Darlington Borough Council purchased the site last year.
The council is knocking down the building to make way for future development.
The site, which is opposite the car park where Darlington’s economic campus is due to be built, has been earmarked for “quality residential development”.
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The building, which was originally built in the mid 1960s, was once home to the Magnet ten pin bowling alley as well as a two-storey nightclub.
The bowling alley ceased trading in the mid 1970s and was taken over by the Magnet Furniture Group and used as a retail showroom and depot.
It was subsequently used by Sports Direct until several years ago when the company moved premises to its current Cornmill Centre location.
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