The
Phoenix Initiative started to rise yesterday – with the demolition of Stevens
Memorial Hall.
The knocking down of the former youth club just off Trinity Street was the first
physical step to creating the £20 million scheme jointly funded by Coventry City Council
and the Millennium Commission.
The project, which will be the largest construction programme since the city centre was
rebuilt after the wartime blitz, involves demolishing dozens of buildings in the Hales
Street area to make way for squares and piazzas stretching from the Cathedral to Cook
Street Gate by the Inner Ring Road
It is due to be completed in autumn 2001 – when Coventry City’s new Arena
2000 will also come on stream.
Yesterday Lord Mayor of Coventry Maggie Rosher begun the demolition work on the
building, which was recently bought by the project.
The 90 year old Memorial Hall is situated just off New Buildings, behind Holy Trinity
Church Hall. Its demolition will see the area serve as a key access point to the project
and allow archaeologists to work on the site. Eventually the area will be transformed into
a cafe-bar terrace next to a new Priory Cloister Garden.
Project director Chris Beck said:
"We are thrilled to see some changes on the ground at last. The Phoenix Initiative
is giving us the unique opportunity to investigate Coventry’s 13th century
cathedral and this demolition gives us the space we need to get that underway.
"It also allows us to get on with creating some top quality spaces for people in
Coventry."
