On Wednesday, workers began taking down the facade of the old BWS store on the corner of Brisbane and Dowe streets, to clear the way for a $5.8 million expansion of CH on Peel.

The five-storey building includes 33 hotel units, a new entrance lobby and reception area.

Owner Jye Segboer said the works marked an exciting time ahead for the business, which opened in December 2014.

“We started a week ago with the interior removal of all the floorboards and window frames,” he told The Leader.

“On Wednesday we started knocking down the structure itself...we do expect it to probably take a week.

“But with the age of the building we are not entirely sure what we might find along the way, caution will be taken as we proceed to make sure the removal is done safely and without any harm.”

Mr Segboer said he still hoped construction would be completed at the end of 2017.

“The next step will be to try and finalise who will actually do the works moving forward, in terms of building,” he said.

“Tenders will be finished off this week and once the final decisions are reached we will start to see movement in terms of the foundations going down early next year.

“We are really excited about the prospect of what extra accommodation will mean for Tamworth and the CBD itself, there are exciting times ahead and we look forward to having it completed at the end of next year.”