Ready to take on Channel Island cable car challenge.
Following a lengthy and hotly-contested tender process that attracted the interest of some of the biggest demolition names from the British mainland, a company has finally been selected to demolish the former cable car station at Fort Regent on the island of Jersey. The Channel Islands Procurement Portal has awarded the contract to demolition and plant hire company, D B Cummins Ltd which will be calling upon the expertise and experience of JBV Demolition.
That expertise will be required. In addition to being located on a cliff top, DemolitionNews understands that all in and outgoing plant and equipment will be required to pass through a tunnel that is just two metres wide and two metres high.
The awarding of the contract was delayed by the recent States of Jersey Elections which deferred some governmental business on the island. “I am glad that one of my first Ministerial Decisions will contribute towards the removal of this increasingly dangerous structure. The awarding of the contract to a local company, after several years of preparatory work, is a good example of the pooling of resources within the new Growth Housing and Environment department,” says Infrastructure Minister, Deputy Kevin Lewis. “This is the start of the work that I hope will secure a future for Fort Regent.”
The full cost of the work, including other expenses as well as the actual demolition, is estimated at £866,000.
Fort Regent was originally built as a military fortress and was completed in 1814. The States of Jersey acquired the Fort from the British Government on the 1st March 1958.
In 1967 the ‘Fort Regent Development Committee’ took the first steps in converting Fort Regent into a recreation centre for both islanders and visitors. The cable cars were opened on 1st June 1970 to provide a direct route to the Fort from Snow Hill. The last cable car ran in 1988.
Since its closure, the disused Cable Car Station has stood empty and is becoming dilapidated. There have also been reported break-ins, vandalism and unauthorised access.
“I am pleased to have finally resolved the issue of the cable car station. This decision is the culmination of several years of hard work and will remove a building that is no longer needed and that has become unsafe,” says Assistant Minister for Economic Development, Tourism Sport and Culture, Senator Steve Pallett. “I hope we can now move forward to consider the future of the wider site.”
