Councillors are to be asked to agree a budget of around £100,000 to demolish Paradise Pool, Ely, once it closes.

It is being replaced by The Hive, the new East Cambs District Council leisure centre on the outskirts of the city at Downham Road.

The Hive includes swimming pools to replace the Paradise that council officials say are “at the end of their operational life”.

Facilities at the Paradise are “too small to meet the swimming needs of local people”.

The Hive is expected to open next spring which is when the Paradise will close.

“A process for the decommissioning and demolition of the building needs to be identified in order for the necessary steps to be taken prior to the closure,” councillors are being told.

The two options available to the council are to demolish the building as soon as it closes or to wait until a future date.

Councillors will be told there are no benefits to not demolishing the building as soon as it closes.

“Leaving the building in place will incur risk and additional cost,” says a report.

“By demolishing the building as soon as possible, the health and safety risks are reduced, as is the likelihood of break-ins.

“Leaving the building insitu will result in the council incurring the cost of boarding up and regular security patrols.”

Officials also warned that by leaving the building standing it would incur business rates as well as insurance costs.

“The negative visual impact of boarded up building in this area and the potential risk that a local group may nominate the building for inclusion on the council’s ‘list of assets of community value’ should also be considered,” says the report.

Potential developers will require a clean site to enable them to conduct public consultation regarding plans of the site before they submit a planning application.

And delay to demolition would delay the development of this site.

An application to demolish the Paradise is expected to go to the council’s planning committee.

Officials expect to conduct an asbestos survey on the parade and to liaise with neighbours as the demolition date draws near.

A report to the council’s assets committee says a fixed cost will be determined via a tender process for the complete decommissioning and demolition of the building, resulting in a clean site