The Galleries

IMO the demise of town centre shopping came about because people were buying on line.

I imagine there will be more entertainment, restaurants etc. Maybe the market will survive.

Shame about the clock 4.14

https://wigan-peers.forumotion.com/t3392-market-hall-clock?highlight=clock

All Gone

If the clock was saved from outside the old market hall and refurbished and hung in the galleries, why on earth wasn't it saved this time? Did the council forget about the clock being there?

Same could be said for the canopy and columns that were at the entrance to the old maket hall - and were kept to go at the entrance to the new one. Where is it now?

Some shots I took from the top floor window of Max Spielman on 12th August.

1.


2.


3.


4.

I've got to ask, are those people on hoardings on pic 4?

-OY- wrote:Same could be said for the canopy and columns that were at the entrance to the old maket hall - and were kept to go at the entrance to the new one. Where is it now?

I contacted the Museum of Wigan Life re the canopy back in February and got this reassuring reply:

jo anne wrote:

-OY- wrote:Same could be said for the canopy and columns that were at the entrance to the old maket hall - and were kept to go at the entrance to the new one. Where is it now?

I contacted the Museum of Wigan Life re the canopy back in February and got this reassuring reply:

Fantastic - thanks Joanne. I've been in the super secret store and it's VERY impressive. They have all sorts in there including another mill engine like Threncherfield!

shocked at that video lolly

Demolishing the clock was a total piece of unnecessary vandalism, shame on Wigan Council !!!!!!

Does anybody anything about the clock?, I thought it was to commemorate the miners.

No mention of it being to commemorate any miners here RMJ

https://www.wigantoday.net/news/people/on-camera-heartbreaking-moment-the-galleries-atrium-clock-and-roof-come-crashing-down-4264703

ramiejamie wrote:Demolishing the clock was a total piece of unnecessary vandalism, shame on Wigan Council !!!!!!

Does anybody anything about the clock?, I thought it was to commemorate the miners.

I disagree, the council don't know what day it is so hours and minutes are pointless

ramiejamie wrote:Demolishing the clock was a total piece of unnecessary vandalism, shame on Wigan Council !!!!!!

Does anybody anything about the clock?, I thought it was to commemorate the miners.

I've worn Mr google out, I'll keep looking

Thanks for your 11-14am and 3-10pm posts Lolly
I mentioned the miners because this was posted over on WW recently, so assumed there was some truth in it.

“I wonder why they did not save that clock and put it somewhere else, either in the new Market Hall, that new Pavillion, or in Leigh in the Market Hall there, or the Spinningate Centre, because it was something to do with the miners.”

I’ve tried like you Googling for info but to no avail.
I’ll continue to get info if I can, but it is purely academic since the clock has gone, unless some lucky person or company can salvage it from the rubble, I truly hope they can.

Wigan Tours Images from twitter

All I can say is. It's a sin.

"Firm appointed for first phase of construction of Wigan's Galleries redevelopment" LINK Yippee

Hang on though


Who is going to pay for it ?

The Council secured £16.6 million from the government’s Future High Street Fund  to deliver regeneration in Wigan town centre. This funding is targeted towards the redevelopment of Galleries and other projects that will deliver new homes, work space and enhanced public realm in the town centre.

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Business/Business-Support/Choose-Wigan/Town-Centre-Plans.aspx#:~:text=The%20Council%20secured%20%C2%A316.6%20million%20from%20the%20government%E2%80%99s,and%20enhanced%20public%20realm%20in%20the%20town%20centre.

The Rest ? who knows

Lolly wrote:The Council secured £16.6 million from the government’s Future High Street Fund  to deliver regeneration in Wigan town centre. This funding is targeted towards the redevelopment of Galleries and other projects that will deliver new homes, work space and enhanced public realm in the town centre.

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Business/Business-Support/Choose-Wigan/Town-Centre-Plans.aspx#:~:text=The%20Council%20secured%20%C2%A316.6%20million%20from%20the%20government%E2%80%99s,and%20enhanced%20public%20realm%20in%20the%20town%20centre.

The Rest ? who knows

So the application for that funding came from the January 2019 'Strategic Regeneration Framework' which it links to in the Wigan Council article LINK and it was awarded to Wigan in December 2021 and it looks like quite a few of those projects are now under way.

So lets have a look at them.


1. Creation of Hubs - Civic Centre - work is underway on that now, they have chosen to keep one of the most popular buildings in Wigan  

2. The Galleries - so we know where they got the £8 million quid from, to demolish the Galleries.

3. A new Market Hall - Yes - but who is going to pay for it ?

4. Wigan Pier Quarter - that is like Mastermind, I've started so I'll finish, except they stopped and have never finished it  

5. HS2 Opportunity - well the MP for Leigh, James Grundy, helped kill off the Wigan link to HS2 long before Rishi kill't it off completely last October, the HS2 rail link would have passed about 25yds away from where he lives, before running straight through his family farm LINK I personally wasn't in favour of HS2.

6. Car Parking Strategy - so I take it from that, that Wigan Council don't want folk to come to Wigan and PARK !!!! perish the thought, so they want to build on the car parks instead

7. Live/Work concept in Wigan Town Centre ? - well yes, convert existing buildings into flats and build 400+ flats on the site of the Galleries, brilliant, but if you do wish to live in Wigan town centre, don't be wanting to park a car in Wigan, or be bothered about anti social behaviour

8. Borough Wide Skills Strategy - bring it on

9. Defensive Retail Strategy - yep, since January 2019 Wigan Council sure have defended 'retail in Wigan'

10. Town Centre Management  - "The town should be actively managed
working with partners to ensure all residents feel they can engage with
and enjoy what the centre has to offer during the day and at night" - yes, they are right it should be 'actively managed', and they are 'actively managing to ruin the place'

And another thing

On about Galliford Try building the new Market Hall etc, they were originally awarded the contract to build the new Westwood Park link road, but that fell through, because Wigan Council had not secured the funding for it, which I suppose might be a normal way of doing things, in that find out how much it will cost by putting it out to tender, agree a price and award the contract, and then apply for the funding, I think it was Mr Sledge who said that was the normal way things like that were done, but just because they say they have found a builder to do the work, it doesn't not necessarily mean that the work will actually get done LINK

Sorry TTS "Mr Sledge" isn't a member here, so cant ask him. Perhaps nip over to the other forum you are a member of and ask? I'm sure he is a member there.

Lolly wrote:Sorry TTS "Mr Sledge" isn't a member here, so cant ask him. Perhaps nip over to the other forum you are a member of and ask? I'm sure he is a member there.

You don't know whoo Mr Sledge is ?

Well I will tell you, because he is a man who is a legend in his own dinnertime