Demolition work begins on the old Chesterfield Hotel to make way for temporary car park

Chesterfield Borough Council was granted planning permission to open a temporary car park with a total of 88 spaces at the Malkin Street location.

The proposals will see the existing Chesterfield Hotel car park returned to use alongside a temporary open surface car park which is to be built on the footprint of the old hotel.

Contractors were spotted at the site on Tuesday, with the demolition work bringing an end to a lengthy wait for the site to be redeveloped.

Chesterfield Hotel, formerly the Station Hotel, opened in 1877 and closed in 2015, making it one of the town’s longest-running businesses.

Over the years, it was a venue for thousands of occasions – including weddings, birthday celebrations and Christmas parties – and was a major employer.

However, the building has stood empty for most of the past nearly seven years and many have described it as an ‘eyesore’.

It was always the borough council’s intention to create a temporary car park on the site while plans for its future use are developed.

Last summer, an outline planning application was submitted by the borough council and Prestige Hotels (Midlands) Ltd, owners of the Chesterfield Hotel building, stating proposals to erect two buildings at the site – one up to six storeys and another up to four storeys tall.

This outline planning application, for a mixed-use development, is currently being considered.

Exactly what will be inside these two buildings is yet to be confirmed – but possible uses include a hotel, residential flats, retail space, leisure place, a crèche and an office.

A spokesperson for Chesterfield Borough Council said: “Work to regenerate the area around Chesterfield train station – to transform this key gateway to the town centre – is moving forward.

“The redevelopment of this key site is part of our ambitious plan to create an attractive arrival point and a warm welcome for visitors to our town and improved access to the station for our residents, as part of the Chesterfield Station Masterplan.”

The demolition work is expected to take around 20 weeks to complete.

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