Part of Broad Marsh car park will be closed for weeks for urgent health and safety work.
The top level of the Broad Marsh car park closed on Monday (October 26), and will remain shut until Friday, December 4, leaving dozens of spaces unavailable.
Nottingham City Council said that that the sixth level was being closed while work is taking place on the sprinkler system.
Towards the end of last year, the authority confirmed it would be spending £315,000 to install a sprinkler system on the top level of the car park.
It came after the insurer for the car park warned the council that full cover would be withdrawn unless fire protection measures were installed.
In a statement, Transport Nottingham thanked motorists for their patience and apologised for the inconvenience while the top floor was off limits.
The Broad Marsh car park opened in 2021, followed by the new bus station a year later.
Central Library, which is based within the same building, then opened in 2023.
Back in November last year, documents revealed that any failure to meet the insurer’s requirements would have reduced loss, damage or liability costs to between £5 and £15 million.
This is well below the building’s estimated rebuild value, thought to be around £85 million.
Council officers warned at the time that accepting a reduced level of cover would leave the authority dangerously exposed in the event of a major fire, not only risking the loss of the asset but also removing any means to rebuild it.
Officers also said a failure to meet the insurer’s requirements could be interpreted as negligence if an incident occurred.
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
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