Having lingered half demolished for nearly three months, work is set to resume on pulling down two Basingstoke eyesores.
Council chiefs will next week approve an extra £200,000 to complete the demolition of Loddon House and City Wall House in Basing View.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council announced on Tuesday that they have completed tendering for a replacement contractor and work is set to start in the next few weeks.
Work stopped when demolition company the Armoury Group went bust on December 23 with their work only half completed.
Cllr James Lewin, Cabinet member for finance and property, said: “Armoury had come in with the cheapest offer – perhaps too cheap for them. They had done the large part of the work, but the new contractors will finish it off.”
Cllr Lewin admitted in January that Armoury's quote had come in “considerably cheaper” than other contractors.
Borough council leader Andrew Finney said: “In the fullness of time, the whole process will be subject to overview and scrutiny.”
The new contractor’s identity is currently being withheld, but will cost more. However, the cost will be covered by releasing money from the Basing View reserves.
The overall budget for the scheme will rise to £2.163m.
The council will now terminate the Armoury Group contract and claim for an £80,000 performance bond.
The new contractors will start preparing the site in March. They will have to take down the existing scaffolding before putting up their own.
Cllr Finney said: “There are several reasons why they won't use the scaffolding already there. It comes down to health and safety. They were pushed on this, but they insisted that they had to do it this way.”
The removal of the buildings and landscaping of the site is scheduled to finish by October this year.
The regeneration of Basing View is a 15-year project to revamp five sites in the city's main office district in a bid to make the town more attractive to companies to invest in.
The council plans for the major regeneration work to get under way in 2012, with the first buildings expected to be completed by 2015.
