The iconic Bentalls building in Bracknell has been all but demolished.

While many people from the town are sad to see it go, the demolition of Bentalls paves the way for the future of The Lexicon.

A photo from Louise James posted on the We Love Bracknell Facebook page shows the Bentalls building looking unrecognisable.

The majority of the structure is gone, with what looks like two storeys of walling left, seen to the right of Louise’s picture.

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Bentalls, which served as a department store from 1973 to 2017,  is being demolished to make way for The Deck project.

Seen as the next phase of The Lexicon -the £750 million redevelopment of Bracknell town centre- The Deck will run from the now demolished Bentalls store to The Bull.

The Deck will have 14 units for leisure and retail companies. Examples include The Botanist cocktail bar and kitchen and the Hollywood Bowl bowling alley, which is currently located in The Point in Bracknell.

Bracknell News: A CGI of what The Deck will look like once complete. Note The Bull pub in the backgroundA CGI of what The Deck will look like once complete. Note The Bull pub in the background

The site was meant to be turned over in June, with Bentalls levelled in May.

However, the project faced a delay in February after planning permission for the demolition works was briefly halted due to  matters raised by a council highways officer.

Little demolition work had been done on July 5, with much of the building still standing, with Rob Morris, the general manager of The Lexicon, blaming ‘technical issues’ which were posed by certain parts of the building structure for the delay.

But by July 8 good progress had been made.

Bracknell News: Bentalls as it used to look like, prior to demolitionBentalls as it used to look like, prior to demolition

The Bentalls brand has been owned by Fenwick since 2001, and a Fenwick department store effectively ‘replaced’ Bentalls when The Lexicon was opened in September 2017.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked The Lexicon what the exact status of the construction of The Deck has reached and what people can expect from The Deck first, but has so far not received a response.