THE building of a former art gallery in Southampton is to be knocked down to make way for a new car park.

The former John Hansard Gallery by the University of Southampton in Salisbury Road is to be demolished and a 38-space surface level car park could be built at the site.

The news comes as the art gallery was relocated to Southampton city centre in 2018 and the site in Salisbury Road has been empty since.

Now the University of Southampton has submitted a planning application to Southampton City Council (SCC) for the site to be turned into a car park.

It comes after plans to demolish the building were approved in April this year.

According to the most recent plans, the new car park will have 25 standard car parking spaces and 13 spaces for disabled users only.

The university said the new car park would replace 24 parking spaces across the campus which were lost due to the new Centre for Learning and Teaching that has been built on land off Salisbury Road. 

An official document on behalf of the university reads: “In addition, part of the University’s Broadlands Road Car Park has recently lost seven parking spaces due to the need to install a telecommunications mast. This planning application therefore proposes to address the recent loss of car parking spaces. Whilst there is an overall net gain of seven spaces, these are catered for disabled users only.

"The university is keen to provide more disabled parking where possible and considers the Hansard site as providing a good opportunity to do so. It is noted that there will actually be a net loss of one standard space.”

As previously reported, the John Hansard Gallery moved into Studio 144 near Guildhall Square in February 2018.

The opening of the new venue was described as the next step in Southampton's cultural regeneration.

As reported, the Nuffield theatre also moved into the new venue in the city centre to becoming part of the new cultural quarter but it also retained the theatre near the University of Southampton.

Meanwhile, the new Centre for Learning and Teaching at the campus which has listed as one of the reasons for the loss of parking spaces at the university, is set to open by the end of this month.

The £35.6m building will feature more than 6,000 square metres of flexible space for group learning and independent study as well as a 250-seat lecture theatre, seminar rooms, a computer suite and a ground floor cafe.

The centre has been billed as a “focal point” for its 24,000 students and the “flagship resource” for all the university’s faculties.