QUESTIONS have been raised over whether Blackburn Cathedral Quarter’s second office block will be constructed and where it would be built.

Hopes are high that the six-storey building will complete the long-planned regeneration of the town centre.

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Lettings are going well but the open space of the Cathedral Square opposite the railway station may yet cause a rethink on its location.

Borough regeneration boss Cllr Phil Riley and Blackburn and District Chamber of Commerce president Tony Duckworth have suggested that relocating the building, possibly on the old market site next to the bus station, might be a better option for the wider redevelopment of the town centre.

Already Govnet Communications occupy half the second floor and Capita is fitting out the first floor ready to move 70 staff there in the New Year to make space for new recruits to its Castleway House complex.

The legal details are being sorted out for the announcement of a new tenant moving into the third floor from outside the borough in the next few weeks.

Cllr Riley said: “The commercial letting of the existing Number One Cathedral Square office block has been a steep learning curve for the council but we are now well-advanced with it.“Talks to let the fourth and fifth floor are in the detailed stage of negotiation so we are hopeful they will be complete soon. I am optimistic the second block will be built, but wonder whether the original site is the right one.

“Cathedral Square is an open and welcoming space and will adding a new office block to the Railway Road side make it into a dark, windy canyon? There are other suitable sites in the town centre”

Cathedral Canon Andrew Hindley, one of the main movers of the £34 million scheme including the new clergy court, still favours placing the new office block on its planned site on the green mound next to Railway Road opposite Morrisons but is prepared to rethink.

He said: “I would still favour the original site. It would give the Cathedral Square a real courtyard feel.

“We need to discuss this with our partners and maybe look again at the size and design to the new building.”

Mr Duckworth said: “I really like the open, airy and welcoming feel of the current Cathedral Quarter.”

“Do we really want another glass palace enclosing that space when there are other sites like the old market site where it could widen the regeneration of the central area?”

Developer Maple Grove is ready to start work on the new block if everything falls into place. Director Andrew Dewhurst said: “Number One Cathedral Square continues to attract occupiers which is very encouraging and we will continue to monitor tenant interest in the second office buildingalthough there are a number of factors to take account of before a decision can be made on the timing of the second phase of development.”