Four-floor, 550-space facility will support events at the waterfront venues for the next 18 months while a new permanent car park is built at nearby Monarch’s Quay. Tony McDonough reports

Almost exactly a year after the ACC Liverpool car park was destroyed by a devastating fire a temporary faculty with space for 550 vehicles has opened to the public.

And it has opened just in time for the Liverpool International Horse Show, the event that was taking place at the Echo Arena last year when the blaze took hold of the building leading to the destruction and write-off of more than 1,000 vehicles.

The four-floor temporary facility will support events at the city’s waterfront venues for the next 18 months while a new permanent car park is built at nearby Monarch’s Quay.

To open in summer 2020 the new £26m nine-floor car park will offer space for 1,450 cars. Cllr James Noakes, Cabinet member for Highways, said: “Although the fire itself was devastating in its impact on the car park, the dock’s close proximity to the city centre meant several other major car parks and the public transport system have been able to ensure that it’s been very much business as usual for ACC Liverpool.

“We are pleased that the temporary car park is open in time for the Horse Show. Not one event has been cancelled and one year on plans are in place to ensure a new, bigger car park will give ACC Liverpool a facility that will more than meet its growing needs and help the rest of the site redevelop in the coming years.

“We must not forget that it has been a traumatic experience for those whose cars were inside and, as well as the complex process of negotiating an insurance claim, this first year anniversary will be a difficult time for them.”