Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 21st April, 2021)

So modern and fresh looking, the building blends in perfectly with old
Drumcroon Gallery
Ive not been in but I'm told that everything inside the Youth Zone is also of the latest design.

No Dennis,it doesn't. The idea behind it is excellent but why did they plan it to look like an industrial unit? It's horrible.

The architects who designed this block house should go back to the drawing board & try again.

It's awful....it looks as if they ran out of bricks.
Something they could hold 'acid' parties in.

looks like the front of a warehouse

Its an eyesore in the middle of town.It looks like a big tin box placed on a load of bricks.Anything for cheapness.

Wasn't the Wigan World member Joseph involved with this youth zone before he passed recently.

Looks a bit intrusive to me - should be on an industrial estate maybe.

Whatever were they thinking of..it's ugly.

A ship container on bricks.
Bet it rattles in hailstone.

The building is a carbuncle on the surrounding area. It's awful.

It looks as if it's just landed from Mars and a little green man is going to pop out and say "Take Me To Your Leader". I'd tell not to waste his time! I am very, very sad to read that Joseph has passed away, if it is the same Joseph I am thinking of. He was from Ince and he and I used to share a bit of banter when I used to go on the messageboards, We used to call each other "Our Joseph" and "Our Irene" and people thought we were cousins but we weren't related and had never met. I wasn't aware he was involved with the Youth Zone so perhaps it is a different Joseph, but if it's the same, my condolences to his family.

I can remember when Parson’s Walk was a pleasant, tree lined stroll down to the Park. At least the old Drumcroon building as survived, but the difference in quality between that building and this one is striking.

Dennis, Parson's Walk is still pleasant further down. My grandchildren went to Parson's Walk Nursery and it is in an older building and is lovely and homely inside. Our Edie was used to hearing the nursery assistants answering the phone and when she was about two and the phone rang at home, she used to pick it up if she got the chance and announce "Parson's Walk!" in a "Hyacinth" voice!

I'm surprised non of you old fashioned lot have never complained about the Linacre centre not looking like the old fashioned, Wigan Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, complete with its useless gable ends that leak.

I suppose the mentality in this design is that a modernistic building is more attractive to the youngsters it is meant to serve . That quaint old pile in PaD April 14th , delightful as it is , doesn't shout out 'youth zone '.
This is essentially the problem with modern architecture . It is enslaved by the concept of form and function . The aesthetic is of secondary importance .
At least the building appears to give good shelter from Gary's hailstones and I imagine it would be quite pleasant to stand beneath it listening to it rattling down the façade .

I guess It'll be high maintenance on the 'faux ' corrugated iron in time, whatever it's composed of. Cheap and tacky, ok for standing under in the rain waiting to be picked up by mum or dad.
I agree Dennis - Parson's Walk was a 'posh' area lined with trees.

Nothing wrong with it. It is functional as it is meant to be. At their worst in my opinion and with a few exceptions, modern architecture is so much more pleasing to the eye than the hideous Victorian/Edwardian monstrosities dotted around the town. As I say, just my opinion.

Well said Derek.
Irene are you on about Organic Jack whose real name was Joseph.

No. Mick, not so far as I know. He always used his own name, "Joseph" on the communicate section of Wigan World, but no surname, so that's all I know of him except that he came from Ince, like me. I'm not even sure he still lived in Ince but we shared memories of it. I think he has made the odd comment on photo-a-day but wasn't a "regular" on here. I never knew of an "Organic Jack" so doubt if it's the same person. I often wonder if "Billy" is still going....his little picture at the side of his comments used to show a ship. He was getting on in years even back then. I haven't been on there for years.

Perfectly put Poet . We now belong to a throwaway society where function overrides detail . This does the job as does a shoe box . I don’t think the youth of today give a poppycock what happens to our old buildings . This is part of their era so they will value it . It’s their time now .

Nobody has mentioned how it looks at night,when it’s lit up with multicoloured lighting,let’s have a photo at night!

Irene,I think it was John Joseph that Keith meant,and I'm almost sure that Billy passed away,he used to call me our Maureen and so does Lizzie from Oz on communicate..I miss Billy a lot.

I wonder when the 'yoof' reach old age will they still be enamoured of the quick fix thrown up buildings. ( That's if it lasts) as we know time does not stand still, tastes change and mature , somehow I don't think that building will stand the test of time.

John Joseph died some years ago.

No Character.

Organic Jack/John Joseph grave made Photo-a-Day on Wednesday, 15th March, 2017, its got a headstone on now with ships anchor on it.

A video of Organic Jack in his allotment.

https://youtu.be/wIAIen_nb98

Thanks everyone for your help re Joseph. I do have to admit that if I were 17 again I would probably like this building....I DID like he modern, newly-built buildings in Wigan when I was young.....it is only with age that I have come to prefer the old buildings and to appreciate their ornate brickwork and character and the workmanship that went into them. When we go to our caravan we go through Blackburn and there is a turquoise, crescent-shaped building that is, I think, part of the college and I find it hideous, but I remember thinking when I first saw it that I would have loved it as a teenager in the sixties, when it was built, and thought it the last word in modernity. Our tastes alter as we age.

I am "old school" when it comes to architecture, this building looks like a warehouse.
I don't suppose the kids are bothered though.

To me it looks like one of those Tin Tabernacles of old that's been blown on top of a brick wall by a strong wind.

I was just wondering what do the 'yoof' do in that place. Do they have their interpretation of rock bands and 'dancing'. Because if they do I can imagine ' Hurricane Harry' could blow the tin roof off leaving the poor things open to the elements!
Cyril that made me chuckle.

The building next door, after it was Drumcroon Gallery, it was Hop skip and Jump.It was opened by a charity for children with learning difficulties, and disabled children.Then that closed, I think it's stood empty now, but I maybe wrong.