Asbestos discovery prolongs hotel saga

GOLDEN EAGLE 'ONE OF MOST COMPLICATED DEMOLITION JOBS OF ITS KIND EVER PERFORMED IN THE UK'

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT Local democracy reporter [e-mail] @TeessideLive

THE costs and time taken to knock down the Golden Eagle have risen because asbestos was found “all over the place” in the eyesore building.

Council bosses hope to start work next month and have the Thornaby “carbuncle” demolished by next spring.

But the area's MP says bringing down the former hotel will be “one of the most complicated demolition jobs of its kind ever performed in the UK”

Regeneration leaders say most of the budget - which has soared by almost £1m - would be spent not on the demolition itself, but on removing asbestos which has been “shot around” the building, the worst ever seen by one surveyor.

An original £600,000 estimate was based on a similar building, Phoenix House, but it climbed to an expected demolition cost of £1.52m because of the “significant levels” of asbestos spread to far more surfaces in the Golden Eagle.

Councillor Richard Eglington, cabinet member for regeneration and housing, said: “We were not allowed into the building to do a survey until we took control of that building. We were guessing what it was truly like inside.

“When we got inside, the level of asbestos was beyond anything we'd considered as being a possibility. It was described by one surveyor as containing the worst they'd ever seen. It’s not just the level of work. It's the complexity, the way the asbestos has been shot around.”

He said the contractor would potentially have to take the seven-storey Trenchard Avenue building room by room removing the asbestos: “That means the budget has increased somewhat. Luckily we've found the Indigenous Growth Fund, which is there to support vacant and derelict land and properties.”

He said they hoped to have the building down in spring 2026, but with a crucial caveat: “It is such a complex site that it’s going to take as long as it takes to do it safely and do it correctly.”