by Mike LaycockA LISTED building could be demolished as part of the £60 million scheme to extend York's Coppergate Centre.

The Grade II listed building, in Castlegat,e has been home to Caf Andros for more than a decade.

But it once housed the offices of G T Andrews, architect of the York Prison which once stood nearby.

London architects Terry Farrell, who have designed the massive shopping development near Clifford's Tower, say its listing is more in recognition of such associations than its architectural quality. And they say English Heritage have agreed that it has no great architectural merit.

They want permission to knock it down because:

It is a small building which sits uncomfortably next to the Impressions Gallery and Fairfax House and is the wrong scale to terminate the view along Tower Street

The space around Clifford's Tower should be enclosed with buildings of full civic scale and quality

At least two retail units would be lost if the caf was retained, and it is these two units which would create an important visual link from St Mary's Square.

Caf proprietor Andreas Mina said he had not yet been informed of the demolition plan, although he had been warned previously that demolition might be proposed. "I don't know what is going to happen," he said, adding that the news was unsettling for staff.

He said he still had some 15 years to go on a lease from the city council, and the authority would need to come to an agreement with him for the caf to vacate the property. If the caf closed, he would just concentrate on running his other Caf Andros in Goodramgate.

John Shannon, chairman of York Civic Trust, said he did have some reservations about the demolition plan.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.