INVERCLYDE Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) staff have started their move out of Hector McNeil House as part of £21.5 million plans to regenerate Greenock town centre.
Staff working in children and families, community justice, new to Scotland, the housing options and homelessness advice service and the money advice service teams, along with business support, will all be based in the James Watt Building on William Street from Monday 10 March.
The building, which was formerly used by the education department, has been refurbished to prepare for the move.
David Gould, convener of the Integrated Joint Board (IJB), the organisation which manages Inverclyde HSCP, said: “We want to reassure visitors and clients that there will be no impact on the care and support they receive from the HSCP as a result of this move.
“Staff will be just a short walk away from Hector McNeil House but this move is key to progressing the plans for Greenock town centre. Colleagues have worked hard to inform clients and visitors of the move and to reassure them there will be no change to their service.
“I’d like to thank everyone involved in the move and for ensuring a continuation of service.”
Hector McNeil House was the former Central Library building and became the main offices for the Community Health and Care Partnership in August 2014. It is being demolished as part of town centre redevelopment.
The mural on the facade of Hector McNeil House, designed by Charles Anderson in 1970, will be removed with the aim of incorporating it into the design of the new eastern facade of the nearby Oak Mall during its reconstruction.
Inverclyde Council was awarded funding from the UK Government, in early 2023 to transform the heart of Greenock Town Centre.
The proposals will create new civic spaces, a restructured, more outward-looking town centre retail offer, improved links between various parts of the town centre and the waterfront and build in capacity for a new education/college facility and town centre housing.
To do this, the project will remove the A8 flyover, bringing the road to ground level to increase access. It will also remove the Bullring Roundabout, Hector McNeil House and 40 per cent of the existing indoor retail space in the Oak Mall.
The A8 flyover will be replaced by a low-level trunk road to bring the town together rather than split it in two, with easier access to the town centre for visitors and residents.
It will allow for the creation of a new open civic area in the town centre to be more welcoming to visitors and residents and improved connections between the town centre and the waterfront.
