Demolition of Boots in York moves a step closer – These pictures show the site before and after
Eagle eyed shoppers will have spotted the planning notices now up on York’s flagship Boots store.
But how many of them realise that the shop will be demolished if the plans get the go ahead?
Under the Coney Street Riverside scheme, number 43 Coney Street – which now houses Boots – would be knocked down.
It is one of several huge changes that could be made to the street, all outlined in the planning application submitted at the end of last year by York property company The Helmsley Group.
Here we provide an interactive guide to some of the biggest modifications to Coney Street.
Boots and the riverside
Boots before and after
Knocking down Boots would create a route from Coney Street to the River Ouse. There, pedestrians could join an extended river walkway.
This route used to exist as a common lane – until Waterloo Place was built. That, in turn, was demolished in the 1955 redevelopment of what was then the Woolworths site, and is now Boots.
Planning documents state: “The proposals would remove the Boots building, which currently abuts 4 Spurriergate to the north [where Beaverbrooks is today].
“The existing building is a detracting feature in its setting, and through its removal the front elevation of the listed building would be better appreciated, and occupy greater prominence in the street scene.
“The creation of the open route through Waterloo Place would encourage visitors to move around the listed building, and introduce an attractive scheme of landscaping which would contribute positively to its setting.”
The documents add: “The removal of no 43 Coney Street/ Boots to create an opening would remove a building of no particular townscape merit, and provide the opportunity to better integrate the shopping frontages with the river frontage behind.”
Riverside before and after
Market Street before and after
Next building
Next building before and after
There are proposals to change the shopfronts on 19-21 Coney Street, what is now the Next building. It was built for department store Leak & Thorp in the 1930s.
Under the plans, the art deco building would stay, but the ground floor shops would be remodelled.
29-31 Coney Street
Another building set to be demolished is 29-31 Coney Street, formerly home to Burtons and Dorothy Perkins, and now hosting the pop-up Streetlife exhibition.
Documents state: “The proposals for Zone 03 involve the full demolition of 29-31 Coney Street and the removal of late-20th century rear extensions behind the Grade II-listed buildings at Nos. 23, 25-27, and 33.
“29-31 Coney Street is a modern building and is not mentioned in the Conservation Area appraisal. It is considered to make a neutral impact to the character and appearance of the CA.”
And here’s what’s coming: “Two new buildings are proposed, at the site of 43 Coney Street and 29-31 Coney Street.
“The shopfronts proposed as part of these new buildings will make reference to the anatomy of the shopfronts of Coney Street to provide a modern shopfront that contributes positively to the varied language of Coney Street.”
All the planning application documents are here and here.