Work will begin next week to demolish the dilapidated former Thirroul Library and Senior Citizens Centre and make way for a green park space for the community.

The aged building has been out of use for more than a year and is no longer accessible to the community because of damaged walls, a collapsed ceiling and significant issues with asbestos roofing.

Council replaced the rundown facility in June 2009 with the state of the art regional Library and Community Centre on Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul.

Director of Infrastructure and Works, Peter Kofod, said with a new facility now available to the community, the old building would be demolished and turned into a green space for the community to enjoy.

“We consulted with the community earlier this year about the future of the site, and the majority of people agreed a green space would be suitable, complete with park furniture, an area for art exhibitions, and landscaping,” Mr Kofod said.

“A number of residents raised the idea of creating a skate park at the site, and this will be taken into account into the future as Council plans for facilities in the northern suburbs.”

“Council understands some people will be disappointed to see the former library removed, however it is in a very bad state and would cost a significant amount of money to repair and maintain,” Peter Kofod said.

“Council has a major backlog of infrastructure maintenance, and while we have been working hard to divert costs into repairs and maintenance of our city’s assets, one of the ways we have to do this is by consolidating our assets.”

The demolition project is weather dependant and could take approximately eight weeks to complete. There will be minimal impact to traffic during the project.