Demolition of the former Queen’s Hotel pub on Scotland Street, just outside the city centre, began today, Friday, January 29.
The former pub, which closed in 1997, is being bulldozed along with the old Robert Neill & Co electrical wholesalers premises to create space for 229 apartments to be built by Rise Homes.
The pub opened in 1791 as the Queens Inn, it is understood, with the present building dating back to 1928.
Previous plans to convert the disused building into a massage parlour or to restore it as a pub while creating 126 apartments fell by the wayside before Rise Home’s £40 million plans for apartment blocks rising up to 10 storeys were approved.
These photos taken by The Star photographer Dean Atkins show demolition in progress, while photos previously taken by Urban Bloody Bear and shared to the 28 Days Later website show how it looked inside after years of dereliction.
1. More than 200 years of history
A pub is believed to have stood on the site since 1791 Photo: Dean Atkins
2. Sad state of dereliction
The building had been allowed to fall into dereliction since the pub closed in 1997 Photo: Dean Atkins
3. Digger at work
The demolition gets underway of the Queens Hotel on Scotland Street Photo: Dean Atkins
