MetroCentre
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This article is about about the shopping centre in North East England. For other uses, see MetroCentre (disambiguation).
MetroCentre is the largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the second biggest on the European continent after the Cevahir Mall in Istanbul, Turkey. It is located at Swalwell, Gateshead, UK on a former industrial site, close to the River Tyne. The Metrocentre opened in 1986 and has nearly 330 shops occupying 1.78 million square feet (165,000 m²) of retail floor space.[2] Additional retail space is available in the adjoining retail park which houses larger stores.
OriginsMetroCentre's construction was financed by the Church of England Commissioners, and was masterminded by Sir John Hall's company, Cameron Hall Developments. In October 1995, the centre was sold to Capital Shopping Centres for £364m, although the Church Commissioners retain a 10% stake. It is currently valued at around £1 billion. Reflecting its Church origins, MetroCentre is one of the few European shopping centres with its own chapel and resident full-time chaplain. Services are held on Sunday afternoons, with special services on occasions such as Mothering Sunday and Remembrance Sunday. The MetroCentre has four malls; red, green, blue and yellow. It also has an antiques village, the forum, and the studio, formerly the Mediterranean Village, which houses many restaurants and cafes. The first mall of the MetroCentre was built in 1986 - the red mall. At the time it featured a large Carrefour store, which later became Asda. Later on, Asda moved from the MetroCentre to a nearby site on Gibside Way with a larger store than previously. RefurbishmentRed Mall & Transport InterchangeThe departure of ASDA from the Red Mall left a large empty unit in the centre. The decision was taken to demolish the old supermarket and extend and refurbish the Red Mall. The new Red Mall extension (including a number of new shops, such as a Debenhams department store) opened on 6 October 2004. A consequence of the expansion was that Metrocentre regained the crown of Europe's largest shopping centre that it had lost to Bluewater in 1999. However a year later, with the opening of the Cevahir Mall in Istanbul, Turkey, the MetroCentre was moved down to being only the largest shopping centre within the European Union. The refurbishment programme also included a new Transport Interchange at the end of the Blue Mall. It replaced the old bus station and is intended to provide improved bus links to many parts of North East England, and accommodate coach services from elsewhere in the UK. The new interchange features electronic display boards and a new waiting room at the MetroCentre railway station. The MetroCentre is still not (but is planned to be linked to the metro system in the near future) directly connected to the Tyne & Wear Metro System, though regular bus shuttle services provide connections to Monument, Central Station, and Gateshead Metro stations (see Transport Links below). Blue and Yellow MallsOn 30 November 2006, centre owner Capital Shopping Centres announced plans to redevelop the centre's Blue and Yellow Malls [3]. The plans propose the closure of the Metroland theme park, allowing the Odeon cinema to relocate to the Yellow Mall from the Blue Mall. The space in the Blue Mall currently occupied by the cinema will then be redeveloped for retail use. Additionally the plans involve the refurbishment of the food court, and the interior and exterior of the malls. Shops and food/drinkMany large retail chains are represented in the centre, such as Marks & Spencer (their first out of town store), House of Fraser, Debenhams, Woolworths (since 2000 when C&A closed), Argos, HMV, W H Smith, Jessops, Boots, zavvi, Carphone Warehouse and Lush. There are also numerous places to eat and drink, with a recently redeveloped area containing bars and restaurants providing an alternative to the McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Wetherspoons elsewhere in the centre. Leisure facilitiesImage:Metroland.jpg
The New Metroland, Europe's largest indoor amusement park
The Metrocentre houses The New Metroland, Europe's biggest indoor amusement park. Metroland opened in February 1988 at a cost of £20 million; it was renamed The New Metroland following a 1996 revamp. [1] The park features a roller coaster, ferris wheel, pirate ship and dodgem cars among its rides. In addition to Metroland, the centre's leisure facilities include an 11-screen Odeon cinema, a bowling alley, a Quasar laser tag arena , and amusement arcades (with arcade games and slot machines). In terms of total area, Metroland is the second largest retail and leisure facility in the UK. The Bluewater centre in Kent is the largest with a total area of 971,246sq.m. Metro Retail ParkThe Metro Retail Park houses stores such as IKEA, ASDA, and Toys 'R' Us. The retail park also has a Marriott hotel; three further hotels, a Premier Inn, Travelodge and Holiday Inn Express, are within a mile and designed to serve the centre. Until August 2007 the retail park was not actually under the ownership of MetroCentre Partnership; it was purchased for £82.5 million.[4] Metroland is rumoured to be closing soon and is being converted into a new cinema. Transport linksPublic transportThe MetroCentre's transport interchange has a large bus station and a railway station. It is not, however, directly connected to the Tyne and Wear Metro. It is connected to Gateshead metro station by the X66 bus service and to Newcastle Central metro station by the heavy rail services to Newcastle railway station.
Newcastle Eldon Square bus station, stopping at Monument Metro station, on Pilgrim Street and Newcastle railway station.
The railway station is on the Tyne Valley Line, which provides regular services to Newcastle Central station, Sunderland, Carlisle, Middlesbrough and Northumberland, with a twice daily service to Stranraer in South West Scotland, via Dumfries. RoadThe MetroCentre has its own junction on the A1 road and northbound this road was widened to three lanes after the MetroCentre was built to cope with increased traffic levels. Even so the centre is responsible for many journeys onto the A1 and there is often significant congestion at peak times. Air and seaNational and international visitors can reach the centre via air using Newcastle Airport. Alternatively, it is possible to travel by ferry to North Shields from Scandinavia and the Netherlands. References
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