WIRRAL COUNCIL is going to 'top' the Golden Towers, its municipal finance building in Cleveland Street, Birkenhead, near Hamilton Square.
The 10-storey office block is suffering from structural and environmental illness, causing the golden ceramic wall tiles to fall off. Repair would be costly and involve the removal of the many large windows that make up the tower block.
The lifts and air conditioning serving the offices need renewing, while the building has suffered structural movement over the Queensway Mersey Tunnel.
To make good would prove uneconomic, so Wirral Council plans to 'top' the building down to first floor level, then construct a new roof.
Demolition is covered under the Town and Country Planning Act, but the topping to form a 'new' building, to be used as a conference and training centre, needs permission from Merseyside Development Corporation. This was given at the last meeting of MDC planning board.
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