The possible loss of all traces of the Trimingham?s store from Front Street to make way for a six-storey Bank of Bermuda office and retail complex has been lamented by the Bermuda National Trust.

The bank has submitted revised plans to build at the former department store site and has scaled down its intended office block from seven-storeys to six after a number of versions for the taller proposal were refused by the Development Applications Board.

But the new plan, reported in Saturday?s , does away with the entire frontage of the old department store and replaces it with a new facade, albeit ?traditional in character and appearance so that it complements the historic area on Front Street.?

The scheme has yet to be reviewed and decided upon by the DAB, but National Trust director Stephen Conway has expressed regret that, unlike previous applications which kept the old frontage and only demolished the interior of the building, the latest design will entail the demolition of everything.

The new building will have three storeys at street level on Front Street with the remaining storeys being terraced and set back. A public retail office for the bank will be on the ground floor, along with a third-party retail shop on both the Front Street and Reid Street ground floors.

Later this week the Trust Council will examine the plans, however Mr. Conway noted: ?The new design has been reduced in height by one floor and seems to play safely within the formulaic pyramidal design of the City Plan ? very much in the Cooper?s style.

?The main point we note is that it looks like it is goodbye to the old Trimingham store which is now to be demolished. The Trust had previously negotiated saving the iconic two-story frontage of the old Trimingham?s store in the previous application.

?Unfortunately the old building has no legal protection and the new proposal calls for the complete frontage from Smith?s to Calypso to be demolished and rebuilt with a three-storey structure.?

He said the plans showed a building presenting a blank elevation towards the Birdcage rather than the more ?articulated design facing west? of previous designs.

?We have accepted that the City Plan permits a big multi-storey building on this site and there will always be different opinions on the aesthetics of the design of the upper part.

The loss of the Front Street buildings under this application ? and the other pending applications in the city ? underlines the importance of listing buildings of architectural and historic interest to bring the city into line with the rest of the Island,? he said.