Our current Tees Valley mayor has announced the demolition of our iconic blast furnace, previously describing it as a scar on the land. Many don’t see our blast furnace as a scar.  Many see it as one of the most beautiful and iconic industrial structures in the world!

Of course we need to regenerate the site to bring new industry and quality jobs but does that mean full demolition.

Germany has repurposed a number of its old industrial sites including its steel works and blast furnace which are now world famous tourist attractions.

The original plans for the old SSI site included exploring saving part of the historic and iconic structures on the site as cultural landmarks. Whilst we may not be able to have full blown schemes like Germany’s, I believe this site is of international significance and too important to simply allow the bulldozers to come in, with at least some understanding of what is possible.

What are your thoughts? Do you think there should be consultation and study into the potential of keeping the blast furnace and some of the iconic structures?