Shrewsbury’s Riverside Shopping Centre ‘to be razed’
Friday 1st July 2011, 6:00PM BST.
Shrewsbury’s Riverside Shopping Centre will be razed and rebuilt as part of a £150 million scheme to merge the town’s three biggest shopping centres and create a new department store, it was revealed today.
Officials behind the plans said they would bulldoze the centre to make way for the development which will see the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside centres become a single shopping mall.
In addition to a new department store, up to 60 shops and restaurants will be created.
Bosses say the proposals would make Shrewsbury a “more attractive” place to shop and visit.
David Rodger, of Ignis Real Estate, said: “The proposal is to demolish the Riverside centre which is over 40 years old. We would bulldoze the mall at the back and build up the new box and punch into the existing Darwin and Pride Hill stores.
“The only part that will be demolished would be the Riverside Mall, the other two centres would remain as they are subject to refurbishment and redevelopment.”
The plans will be officially unveiled at a public exhibition running this month.
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I’ll believe it when I see it.
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Great idea?! Shops are going bust left, right and centre because we have less money to spend so how on earth is a place like Shrewsbury going to support an extra 60 shops and a department store when we can’t support the shops we’ve already got?
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There are so many empty units in the centres that exist, what makes the planners think that unifying them will make a difference.
Dont get me wrong, I think overall its a great idea. Riverside is an absolute pit and CD centre and PH centre dont look too great anymore. Having one big centre with potentially all the big stores and a major department store should attract lots of business but it needs something MASSIVE like a John Lewis (to in turn attract other big shops) to make it work.
I am from Shrewsbury but live in London now, and come home to see the parents in summer and Christmas etc, and am always so crest fallen at what has happened to the town centre, so PLEASE planners……Get the best names in you can to fill this mall. Otherwise we’re just left with an expensive oversized version of the empty vessels we already have.
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Cant fill the ones they already have.
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Yes, this is all very well, but are you sure all these new shop buildings are going to be utilized when the trend seems to be shops closing down – eg Thorntons and TJ Hughes in the spotlight this week. Its a big project so I hope all the new unit are claimed and used.
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Why stop there? Bulldoze Raven Meadows carpark. The worst in Britain. Then don’t bother to build another as the war on the motorist being a ‘soft touch’ is killing the town centre. Who needs ’60 more shops’. They can hardly fill the empty ones they have already. Hot air from yet another ‘equity managing agent’. #Go back to Londinium and lets keep shrewsbury quaint. Been talking about this for the last 10 years or so.
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Ah, yes, the quaint Riverside Centre, we need a campaign to save it for future generations!
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Aw…i’ll miss that Clockwork Orange experience when I’m out with my droogs
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Go further than that and get rid of the ugly 1960 and 1970′s building in the town centre like the market hall and the fowl office blocks that contaminate other parts of the town.
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Speaking of new developments, maybe the Star should develop some new photographs. The one accompanying this article must be at least 5 years old as it shows the late, but unlamented Telephone House.
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I think the Riverside Centre is fine as it is.
Some people on this thread really need to see a real rundown shopping centre and get a proper sense of perspective – Elephant and Castle in London or Birmingham Bull Ring in the 1990s.
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I don’t see the point. The joy of Shrewsbury is the multitude of independents, rather than the big chains that they will want/can afford to rent the units in the shopping centre(s).
There should be more focus on supporting and developing independent trade in Shrewsbury – leave the indoor centre experience to Telford, there’s room for both.
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Agree. Friends come from London and Essex for our independents.
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Although it is true that there are many empty shops in Shrewsbury, a new department store can only be a good thing as it would draw shoppers from other areas who would also visit Shrewsbury’s more distinctive shops.
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So many negative comments. In Shrewsbury. Residents against development and progress. Who’d have thought that could happen? Never known a towns people like it. The default answer of Shrewsbury: NO!
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It is the best news that can happen for Shrewsbury if they can do it. For Shrewsbury to survive it must have a top class shopping centre with hopefully big names as this is the future for shopping. Small shops need not worrry as the footfall will increase and spill over but you need an ancor store to do it, like John Lewis. The big problem in it all is the parking charges, Shrewsbury is as expensive as the major cities (if not more)and you can not just keep on putting it up year on year. Whoever decided to double the fare after 3 hours in Riverside really does not know his/her job and there needs to be some control brought back in to play, it was a mistake which is clear for all to see.
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fanstastic news
im all into recycling, but frankly the best way to get some areas regenerated is a healthy dose of the demolition ball, especially architecturally poor buildings
hows about shire hall next?
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These..’officials’ & ‘bosses’..mmm…now you wouldn’t suppose theres a wee bit of unvital job creation {theirs} for the ‘boys’ going on with other peoples money do you? I think we should keep a close watch on this one.
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#8 [Go further than that and get rid of the ugly 1960 and 1970′s building in the town centre like the market hall and the fowl office blocks that contaminate other parts of the town.]
I know the planners have just chucked out a huge poultry unit outside the town rob, but I didn’t realise we kept hens in office blocks these days!
The Market hall is a good example of 1960s architecture which is fair enough because that is now part of our heritage and retro 50s and 60s is popular with many people.
The Riverside I remember opening and is not anything special much like most stuff subsequently built in the 1980s and 90s in the town when architecture was all about sham period look-a-likes which unless well executed tend to demean the genuine, ancient and more recent period buildings.
If it is felt that a new combined Shrewsbury shopping mall is going to be successful then why all the despondency? It’s not our asset anymore to directly profit from but it does draw other gains to our town for us as well as in terms of tourism and visitors.
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We have 3 shopping centres and not one of them has ever been “full” so why build more??? Where are all the “new” shoppers going to park??? How much MORE disruption will there be to town traffic while all this is going on???
Some people have much more money than sense and obviously tooooooooooooooooo much time on their hands.
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That part of town is in serious need of a makeover and the artists impression certainly seems like an improvement.
On the whole residents of Shrewsbury (or at least Shropshire Star readers) moan far too much about the “town centre dying”, go to other similar sized towns around the UK and you’ll soon realise that we are better off than 90% of them when it comes to retail, restaurants, cafes and general life going on in an attractive centre.
In the current economic climate it might be difficult to fill all these units but the competition should force the greedy landlords around town to lower business rents to a reasonable level and in the longer term the addition of a big department store like John Lewis or Debenhams will attract more people into Shrewsbury.
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Right. Great plan. Knock down the only human scale shopping development in Shrewsbury and replace it with an old-fashioned super-duper mega-mall.
Some people just do not get it, do they?
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As long as they let Primark in this time, then I and a lot of others I know will be very happy.
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hurray excellent news for shrewsbury, but why rebuild it, can you knock the other 2 down while you are at it
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