The Wigan Galleries Redevelopment Project

This is an interesting video from the demolition contractors, who are at present demolishing The Galleries LINK

Wigan Council say

"we are demolishing most of the buildings as these are complicated structures which don't lend themselves to repurposing"

To which I say 'Poppycock'

Hi TOMMY,
Listening to those council wallies one said we are doing with the consultation of the public of Wigan!!! I will respect this site your use or phrase poppycock , will suffice, it's an absolute crime what they are doing and have done .GB.

I go to Wigan town centre two or three times a week and see exactly what's being demolished..stood on Mesnes St watching them demolish the galleries the other day,and all I can think of is it's a sin ..I could cry when I see the bulldozers plough into those lovely buildings, what pathetic excuse do they have to ruin Wigans character..nobody but nobody can understand any of it.

Tommy, I totally agree!

"we are demolishing most of the buildings as these are complicated structures which don't lend themselves to repurposing"

Complicated structures?

A great deal of reinforced concrete to create, basically, a lot of square boxes.
When demolishing these structures: save the metal and use, when possible, the concrete as hardcore - simple!
New building material is expensive and building waste is expensive to get rid of in both transportation and dumping.

TIME is even more expensive!

I really hope they saved Lady Diana's marble plaque.

bambam

I wonder if they will save the veranda thing which is over the entrance to the Market Hall from the now gone outdoor market, that was saved from the original (1877) Market Hall in the 1980s.

I'm really hoping they have Tommy, it's our heritage and Lady Diana only opened one shopping centre and that was Galleries, the clown council have already smashed that beautiful clock in Leigh arcade.

But have they smashed it bambam..I don't believe it.

momac

They smashed the clock or do you mean the Lady Diana Marble Plaque ?

LINK

Tommy, I did mean the clock but have just watched the video and saw it being destroyed.. but I don’t know anything about lady Diana’s plaque do you ?.

what wigan council have done to wigan they should be jailed

I think its the people of wigan should be jailed......after all its them who stopped using all the shops

Momac

This is from last October, the council say that the plaque will be safely removed and stored LINK the council still have the cast iron ventilation structure from the old underground toilets, which was in Market Place, the plaque could be donated to the museum of Wigan Life

Rubbish..that's an old excuse.

Shouldn't you at least give them the benefit of the doubt before casting aspersions?

I could say the same to you.

I'm sorry to disagree with you Stardelta but I spent my entire childhood near the town centre and it has always been jam packed ,and I can't honestly remember Wigan town centre being anything but jam packed as the old photos on Album will verify.

So why is the nationwide demise of town centre shopping all the councils fault?

In fact.....why do town centres have to be full of shops?

I can remember Wigan town centre being much busier than it is now but I don't particularly miss it, nor do I think it is a travesty that it isn't today. Why do people think otherwise?

Any town centre is full of shops, that's what town centres are and always have been.

Not any more it would seem

No,not as long as we have stupid councils around, I would give anything to know who and what triggered all this destruction ..I only hope they sleep well ....not.

Why is it the councils fault?

What are they doing wrong?

Debenhams, Woolworths, C&A. Is the council fault that these and many other retail businesses are no longer viable? Is it the fault of the council that Amazon and eBay came along, or that people prefer the convenience of on line shopping and banking?……and please don’t say it’s all because of business rates and car parking charges because that’s pure comedy!

Times and society changes, always has done always will and the fact is high street shopping has had its day.

Why let it bother you.
Accept it, then let it go and move one. Our town centres need a new purpose, one that caters for the next generations, not ours.

If high street shopping has had its day,then why are they going to build new ones in place of what they've torn down.

What new shops are going to be built and how many?

Are they going to be as big as Debenhams, C&A, Lowes, Woolies all once were?….or is it just small number of small units that are being built?

If you take a walk down Mesnes St , all the boardings that they have erected will show you .. it’ll just be like any other town.