Marlborough House, Leicester, to be demolished

This is Marlborough House, which stands next to Leicester City Council's offices at the New Walk Centre. Those offices are to be demolished and - what do you know? - Marlborough house is too.

A few days ago the Leicester Mercury said:

Work to demolish a council office block is almost ready to go ahead. 

Leicester City Council announced a year ago that Marlborough House, in Welford Road, had failed a surveyor's inspection. 

The 125 children's services officers based in the 1970s block were moved out in November. 

The city council put up a concrete barrier outside due to fears that a vehicle striking a column at the front could bring the building down.

The Mercury also says that the city council bought Marlborough House "as an investment" in 1988. Maybe it will show a profit when the site is redeveloped, but it is hard not to smile.

Meanwhile the 19th century public and industrial buildings in the surrounding streets seemed to be doing just fine when I took the photograph above this afternoon.