A former newspaper office empty since last year is set to be demolished and the site turned into an Aldi.
The Johnston Press-owned Northampton Chronicle and Echo left its former premises at Upper Mounts, Northampton last September when staff moved to new premises in Victoria Street.
Since then the property has been among those listed for sale on a national website set up by JP to market current and former newspaper offices.
Now the supermarket chain has submitted a planning application to Northampton Borough Council to demolish the building, pictured below, which once also housed a print hall.
A spokesman for Johnston Press said: “We are close to concluding a sale of the former Northampton Chronicle & Echo building .
“We understand a planning application has been made and that the proposed owners intend to demolish the building. We are not aware of any plans for the site beyond demolition.”
Aldi have declined to comment on the planning application.
Since launching the website, the publisher is thought to have raised several millions of pounds from the sale of former newspaper sites.
Others sold have included the former Yorkshire Post building in Leeds, which is also being demolished, and the 5.5m former Peterborough Telegraph printworks in Oundle Road.
In addition the current base of the Wigan Evening Post and Wigan Observer has been sold and part of the site leased back by the paper, with staff at the title continuing to be based there.
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Shame. I worked at the Chronicle & Echo from 1978 to 1982. I can recall my first day working in the new offices in Upper Mounts.
Bill Rogers was the MD, other colleagues included Alex Hastie, Phil Lyman, Guy Tongue, Roz Gould, Derek? Gerry Freeman, Phil Green. My deputy was Mike Walker in those days. They were in deed happy and exciting days for a young circulation manager!
Circulation topped 50,000 copies a day, yes 50,000 copies a day.
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This was a depressing building for staff and had no redeeming features. I don’t like to see the demise of newspaper offices but will make an exception in this case.
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I spent many hours cleaning this building!
I always whistled as loud as I could. Not I can get my cleaning products from Aldi.
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Aldi’s great.
I recommend the olive oil, Parma ham and Parmesan especially.
The own-brand gin was a Which? best-buy.
And the wine selection is also high quality.
What’s not to like?
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I spent a lot of time there serving up great deep fried sausages and bacon sandwiches (with the odd hair thrown in for good measure).
Now I get all my bacon and sausages from Aldi.
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The old Echo building as pictured here is no architectural gem, that’s for sure – but at least it’s individual. Aldi will just build another store to its “design” template, just like everywhere else. Ironic, that, considering what’s happening to newspapers. Another nail in the coffin of local identity…
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As newspapers go down the toilet, bargain superstores are on the rise.
If the old Chonicle and Echo office becomes an Aldi, it will not be alone in giving ground to cut-price blueberries and £2.99 racks of barbecue ribs.
The old Falmouth Packet office in Cornwall long since bade farewell to become a Lidls. The spot once occupied by the press manager’s office is now famous for its nuts and raisins muesli and super-fruity raspberry conserve.
It’s the way of the world. There’s no denying the shifting fancies of a fickle public.
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Had many a good desk picnic in the building, often leaving my hands stuck to the back of my head, I always kept a good selection of crackers, cheeses, olives and coffees in my draw at all times.
Now I can buy an equally good range from Aldi and eat in the aisles.
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I always thought the building would have been more at home in the German Reich.
An awful place to work as most of us had no windows – bit like working in a big cupboard.
The mushroom joke comes to mind!
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It’s a striking building and a genuine Northampton landmark, and it will be sad to see it go. But by the time the Chron moved out, it was falling to bits inside.
It could be depressing to work in at times, not least because of all the empty desks where the staff used to sit before JP sacked them all.
After the latest round of redundancies, the new (much smaller) office is already too big for the few staff that remain.
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Building yet another supermarket in an already crowded town with all the planning and traffic implications should produce many column inches for the local paper.
Not least the ‘should a local, landmark be demolished?’ debate which will be great for reader feedback and driving web and Twitter traffic.
Who knows a ‘Save the Chronicle & Echo Building’ might get off the ground?
The circulation-boosting opportunities are endless.
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Glad the building will not be used by journos. It looks like some kind of converted World War 11 concrete bunker.
Talking of the war, try the German porridge in Aldi it’s much better than the established mass-market brands on sale throughout the UK. Delicious!
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Please tell me Northampton Borough Council will not allow major route through and around Northampton Town Centre, The Upper mounts to be completely ruined by agreeing the demolition of an iconic building The Chronicle & Echo and replacing it with an Aldi . This will be an eyesore amongst the impressive existing listed buildings such as The Art Deco fire station, the unique Art deco swimming pool. Please don’t allow the character and visual impact of this prominent area to be destroyed.
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