…means something else must come down.
The scaffolding and bright blue tarpaulin has been removed, and the glass doors opened for the first time on Monday. The first phase in the disappearance of Milton Court has now officially swung into action. The lift on the corner of Moor Lane and Silk Street which has been steadily growing up to Willoughby Highwalk since early summer, opened earlier this week.
So, it now seems certain that the building will now be demolished. The new glass elevator will take people from the City pavements of Moor Lane to the quiet and calming highwalks of the Barbican, replacing the bridge which straddles Silk Street and links the forgotten Milton Court to its more famous and listed distant relative.
To be honest, the new lift looks quite graceful, and with its dark blue outer structure, blends in with the hand rails of the Silk Street bridge and estate itself, and the pillars and ventilation shafts that form structural parts of the 1963 post-war development, all of which are painted in the same hue.
The end of Milton Court was more or less confirmed by the pair of Police Community Support Officers which stopped me this morning, and questioned why I was taking pictures. They were perplexed by my explanation, and even informing them of the nature of the images seemed to make me no less of a possible terrorist.
In the end, I had to hand over the camera for the male officer to peruse the snapshots I had taken. Finally, after a few minutes of questions from them, and some historical site explanations from me, they handed back the camera, and sent me on my way to work.
Milton Court’s scaffolding, fencing, and ‘No Admittance’ signs must surely follow.
Tags: barbican, milton court