Location | Poole, England |
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Coordinates | 50°43′06″N1°58′50″W / 50.71834°N 1.9805°W |
Opening date | 1969 |
Developer | Arndale Property Trust |
Owner | Legal & General Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield |
No. of floors | 2 |
Website | http://www.dolphinshoppingcentre.co.uk/ |
The Dolphin Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Poole, Dorset, England, formerly known as the Arndale Centre .
The shopping centre adjoins Poole Bus Station.
In 1957 discussions began about creating a covered in shopping centre in the heart of Poole town centre, in a similar vein to those popular at the time in America. In 1963 property developers were invited by Poole Corporation to present schemes to develop this shopping centre as part of a redevelopment of the town. [1]
The winning scheme was for a £2 million redevelopment by the Arndale Property Trust on land at High Street, Seldown Lane and Kingland Road [2] known as the Ladies Walking Field. [3] One of the main reasons Arndale won was that their proposal incorporated a fully enclosed shopping centre. [4] The scheme was to be designed by Leslie Jones and Partners in association with Geoffrey Hopkinson; Poole Borough Architect and Chief Planning Officer, the structural engineers were to be Bowden Sillett and Partners and the main contractors were to be Sir Lindsay Parkinson and Company. [4]
The transformation of Poole Town Centre started in June 1966 when work began on a new road layout [2] and construction of the shopping centre commenced in March 1967 when the then Mayor of Poole, Alderman Ron Hart, dug the first turf. [1]
Phase One of the centre was opened at 10:30am on 1 July 1969 by the Mayor of Poole, Alderman Lloyd-Allen [1] and was an American style mall which included 93 retail units, offices, a sports centre, bus terminus [1] and a library. The cost had risen to £3m, but with 200,000 shoppers a week passing through the centre, it was deemed so successful that plans for a second phase were unveiled at the centre's first birthday party. [2]
A much loved feature of phase one were a series of mahogany animals, designed as 'play sculptures' for children. There were four sculptures originally: a hippo, a turtle, a whale and a snake, and they were created by local artist Peter Hand. [5] Hand received the commission for the play sculptures while working in part-time teaching post in the Sculpture Department at a local arts college and they were the first of many commissions for similar shopping centres across the UK. [6]
Phase Two of the centre started in 1980 [7] and the Arndale Centre grew to its final size with the approval of Phase Two B after a Public Inquiry in January 1982. This was topped out in March 1984 in a ceremony involving the Mayor, Cllr Roger Buss and Mr Ron Jennings, the deputy chairman of the development company; Town and City Properties (who by this time had absorbed Arndale Property Trust [8] ). A time capsule containing coins, documents and a copy of the Daily Telegraph was buried under the concrete at the highest point of the development. [1]
In 1989 an £8 million refurbishment programme was carried out on the centre, which emerged with a new name ; The Dolphin Shopping Centre. [7] The three remaining wooden ‘play sculptures’ (the hippo, the turtle and the whale) were removed in 1997 [5] (the snake had been removed some years earlier before being stored in an open area in one of the service areas of the centre and later removed as rubbish). [9]
The centre was acquired in 2003 by Grosvenor Group, who sold it to Dutch property investment company; Wereldhave in December 2010 for £85 million. [2] It was then later sold to Legal & General in 2013 for £58 million.
In 2004, as the centre became increasingly popular, a further multimillion-pound refurbishment programme was completed. The centre entrances were redeveloped, access for shoppers with disabilities was enhanced, and the interior was given a facelift for the first time since 1989. [7]
Poole Sports Centre closed just before Christmas 2007 when operator UK Sports Centres LTD went into liquidation and the space was marketing by agents Sibbett Gregory for disposal. [10]
In May 2008, after an absence of eleven years, the 'play sculptures' returned to the centre and were displayed in rotation as part of specially designed enclosure, where they collected funds for local charities. In 2013 it was rumoured that the 'play sculptures' could be returned to the centre on a full-time basis, and that children might once again be allowed to play on them. [5]
The Marks & Spencers store, which opened in 1971, closed for the final time on 8 January 2022. [11] [12] In December 2023, Wenzel's bakery will open their first store in Dorset in the shopping centre. [13]
Poole Bus Station is a municipal building in Poole Town Centre, England. [14] [15]
Poole Bus Station | |
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General information | |
Location | Poole England |
Owned by | Wilts & Dorset |
Bus stands | 15 |
Bus operators | National Express Wilts & Dorset |
The bus station adjoins the Dolphin Shopping Centre and is opposite the Lighthouse Theatre. Poole Bus Station is the largest bus station in Dorset and is a key travel hub on the South Coast of England. [16] The station is owned partially by Wilts & Dorset, and partially by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. [17] [18] It is used by National Express. [19]
The bus station is notorious for its lack of tidiness and anti-social behaviour [20] [21] and has been identified as a crime hotspot by Dorset Police. [22]
A bus station has been on the site since at least the 1960s. [23] [24]
The bus station was redeveloped in 2009 [25] with improved lighting and new kerbs, [26] and with the UK's largest outdoor mural being painted onto the ceiling by Penson Architects. The process cost £300,000 and was supported by the Dolphin Shopping Centre and Poole Borough Council. [27] The mural graphic contains over 500 panels over 1000 square metres. [28] The revamp was officially opened by town mayor Joyce Lavender. [29]
In 2017, the bus station was severely flooded. [30] Also in 2017, a £134 million revamp of Poole Town Centre, including the bus station was unveiled. [31]
In 2018, the bus station was attacked by youths and damage was caused to lights and windows. [32] In 2019, a further redevelopment plan for a new bus station was revealed. [33] [34]
In 2020, Yellow Buses stopped using the bus station due to the anti-social behaviour in the area. [35] [36] As a result, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council boarded up the nearby alleyways to discourage crime. [37] [38] It is now proposed to permanently close the alleyways. [39]
The travel shop was closed during the first half of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Poole is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is 21 miles (34 km) east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. The town had an estimated population of 151,500 making it the second-largest town in the ceremonial county of Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch, the conurbation has a total population of nearly 400,000.
Ferndown is a town and civil parish in Dorset in southern England, immediately to the north of Bournemouth and Poole. The parish, which until 1972 was called Hampreston, includes the communities of Hampreston, Longham, Stapehill and Trickett's Cross. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 26,559, making Ferndown the largest inland town in Dorset in terms of population, being larger than Dorchester.
Upton is a town in south-east Dorset, England. Upton is to the east of Holton Heath and Upton Heath, and to the north of the Poole suburb of Hamworthy. It is the second largest town in the Purbeck Hills.
Bournemouth railway station is the main railway station serving the seaside town of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It was previously known as Bournemouth East and then Bournemouth Central. It has long been treated as an obligatory stop on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth. It is 108 miles 2 chains (173.8 km) down the main line from Waterloo and is situated between Pokesdown and Branksome.
Branksome is a suburb of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. The area consists of residential properties and also a number of commercial and industrial areas.
The South East Dorset conurbation is a multi-centred conurbation on the south coast of Dorset in England.
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Poole railway station is on the South West Main Line serving the town of Poole in Dorset, England. It is situated in the town centre next to Holes Bay. It is one of four stations in the Borough of Poole and is 113 miles 62 chains (183.1 km) down the main line from London Waterloo.
Manchester Arndale is a large shopping centre in Manchester, England. It was constructed in phases between 1972 and 1979, at a cost of £100 million. Manchester Arndale is the largest of the chain of Arndale Centres built across the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. It was redeveloped after the 1996 Manchester bombing.
Yellow Buses was a bus operator based in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. Yellow Buses was the trading name for Bournemouth Transport Ltd. The company fell into administration in July 2022 and ceased operations on 4 August 2022.
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Wilts & Dorset is a bus and coach operator providing services in East Dorset, South Wiltshire, and West Hampshire. It operates services under the morebus brand around Bournemouth and Poole, and under the Salisbury Reds brand around Salisbury and Amesbury. It is part of Go South Coast, a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
The history of Poole, a town in Dorset, England, can be traced back to the founding of a settlement around Poole Harbour during the Iron Age. The town now known as Poole was founded on a small peninsula to the north of the harbour. Poole experienced rapid growth as it became an important port following the Norman Conquest of England.
Castlepoint is a shopping centre in Strouden Park, Bournemouth, Dorset, in the United Kingdom, occupying a 41-acre (17 ha) site containing around 40 shops, including major retailers such as Marks & Spencer, New Look, H&M, Asda, Sainsbury's, and B&Q. It is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east from the centre of town, off Castle Lane West on the former site of The Hampshire Centre.
Poole Methodist Church is a nineteenth-century Methodist church on Poole High Street in Dorset, England. An extension to the church was nominated for the 2016 Carbuncle Cup for "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months".
Poole Civic Centre is an Art Deco municipal building in Poole, Dorset. Since 7 October 2019 the building has been a Grade II listed building. Also sometimes known as Poole Town Hall, the civic centre was the headquarters of Poole Borough Council until 2019.
Poole Town Centre is an area of Poole, Dorset. It is just to the west of Poole Park. Poole Old Town is home to many historic buildings like the 15th-century Scaplen's Court, the 18th-century Custom House and the Victorian St James' Church.
The economy of the County of Dorset in South West England was worth £16.189 billion to the UK economy in 2013.
Christchurch Town Centre is the town centre of Christchurch, a town in Dorset. The town centre is a major shopping district in East Dorset.
On 21 June 1988, a large fire and explosion engulfed the BDH chemical plant in Poole, Dorset, England. 3,500 people were evacuated out of the town centre in the biggest peacetime evacuation the country had seen since World War II. Despite the intensity of the explosion, nobody was killed or seriously injured.
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