| Servite Housing Association have commissioned local bakers Goodfellow and Steven to create a miniature reproduction of the 19th century building on the corner of Albert Street and Victoria Street and guests will be invited to reduce it to crumbs in a ceremony to mark the start of the “real” demolition.
The colourful cake was collected from the bakers’ Albert Street shop today by the housing association’s chairman Alistair Barrie.
Local councillors and community representatives, along with Servite officials, have been charged with the task of flattening the culinary masterpiece.
The actual building will make way for a £3.5 million affordable housing project, which will offer tenants the choice of 41 new flats for rent.
Work is expected to be completed by 2006 and will form part of an on-going strategy to regenerate the Stobswell/Albert Street area.
Among the building’s design features will be a centralised heating system, which will help to keep tenants’ fuel bills low.
Bringing the project to the planning stage was a complex affair for Servite, which has had to deal with multiple ownership of the old tenement block and the commercial properties below.
Given the large number of available shops in Albert Street, it was decided not to replace the commercial properties that will disappear on the corner site.
Servite has 1450 properties in the Tayside area and the Albert Street development is one of a number of projects to be undertaken by the Dundee-based association, which will see this increase to over 1600 in the next two years.
Servite’s chief executive Julie Cosgrove said, “This site is crucial to the regeneration of Stobswell.
“Dundee City Council has shown its commitment to the area by rebuilding Morgan Academy, restoring Baxter Park and beginning to tackle the problems of run-down tenements.
“Standing at the entrance to Albert Street, our new building will change the look of the place entirely. It’s an impressive new design, which will enhance the area.
“We are committed to bringing about change and supporting the regeneration of Stobswell.”
Thirty-six of the new flats will have two bedrooms, four will be one-bedroom and one three-bedrooms. Lifts will ensure all but one of the flats will be accessible by wheelchair, and there will be car parking and communal gardens behind the new block.
The development will be completed early in 2007. |
