With regard to the Astoria site in Gloucester Place, Brighton, being up for sale again (The Argus, March 29), there are too many romantics who want to preserve the good memories of buildings, with some notion they can relive these memories in the future.

We are a small country running out of space for new homes. We should level the Astoria, the Granada cinema in Portland Road, Hove, and the old Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Dyke Road, Brighton. I suggest that people take lots of photographs of them before demolition, even creating paintings of them for the sake of their memories.

And then let the architects do their stuff and give us new, beautiful and efficient buildings, like the new Brighton Library, with low carbon footprints.

The Royal Alex building has had little money spent on it in recent years and must be in a poor state of repair. If it was to be kept, it would have to be practically rebuilt to be used as flats. There could be twice the density of housing and the new building could be better looking than the existing Victorian, dirty red brick building which by its nature is hard to clean.

The Astoria site would be a good site for a mixture of new hotel, shops, flats and offices. While the Granada cinema site, in Portland Road, would make a good health centre.

Lastly, the most contentious building, St Peter's Church, which however lamentable its present situation, is nevertheless redundant space. It would be a good place for an indoor sports centre for squash, tennis, badminton, netball and basketball. It could provide a sports facility which rather than being on the outskirts of town, is within walking distance of homes in the town centre.

  • Ray Fletcher, High Street, Brighton