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Work has begun to demolish 39-year-old Cyril Le Marquand House and replace it with a new seven-storey building - with the Chief Minister lending his best efforts with a sledgehammer on the first day.
The former Government head office opened its doors in 1982, named after a poll-topping Senator and head of the then-states Finance Committee, who held office until his sudden death in February 1980.
Pictured: Cyril Le Marquand House opened its doors as the island's main civil service building in 1982.
Cyril Le Marquand House was home to most of the island's civil servants up until early 2019, when they moved to the old RBC building on Broad Street as part of a 'OneGov' overhaul aiming to cut "silo" working and bring all departments into one place.
The Chief Minister's first choice for a new headquarters was a site by the Arts Centre called Ann Court, but States Members kicked out the idea in favour of a housing development.
Up to January this year, Government leaders' main preference was then to move to offices just up the road to 31-41 Broad Street, with owner C Le Masurier as "preferred bidder".
Delighted to officially begin the demolition of Cyril Le Marquand House with @Deputy_Lewis
— John Le Fondre (@John_Le_Fondre) December 8, 2021
The new Government HQ will be ready in 2024 and will bring government together in one place, delivering convenient services to the public, savings for taxpayers and more sites for housing pic.twitter.com/kRJXVXUNC7
However, negotiations broke up just days after the Broad Street announcement, after the developer amended its tender to include residential units in part of the building.
The Government then went to its back-up bidder, Dandara, who will own the new , 12,320sqm office block in Union Street and lease it back to the Government.
Pictured: An image of what the new building could look like.
The plans were approved in October, with Dandara owning the freehold for 99 years and leasing the block to the Government for 25 years, unless the latter takes an option to buy the building, which it can first exercise after three years of occupancy.
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