PICTURE: Hunts council building turned to rubble

THE last of the skeleton of Huntingdonshire District Council s old Pathfinder House headquarters in Huntingdon s St Mary s Street should be reduced to rubble by the end of this week. The two massive crunching machines – known to HDC employees as the dino

THE last of the skeleton of Huntingdonshire District Council's old Pathfinder House headquarters in Huntingdon's St Mary's Street should be reduced to rubble by the end of this week.

The two massive crunching machines - known to HDC employees as "the dinosaurs" - are due to leave the site tomorrow (Thursday), leaving the lower floors to be cleared by smaller machines, said project director Richard Preston.

"The demolition has generated quite a lot of interest, and members of the public have been photographing the whole process," he added. "It all gets a bit boring from now on," he predicted.

The demolition of the 1970s spec-built office block is part of a �16.5million project to create a new headquarters complex, of which one block is already complete and occupied.

A second block will be erected on the footprint of the building currently being pulled down, and a civic suite, including a new council chamber and public meeting rooms, will go up alongside Castle Moat Road.

A block of 14 affordable homes will be erected for social landlord the Luminus Group in the former HQ car park, fronting St Mary's Street.

The whole project is due for completion in May 2010.