Wellgate Centre
 The Wellgate Centre in 2007 | |
 | |
| Location | Dundee, Scotland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 56°27′51″N 2°58′10″W / 56.4643°N 2.9694°W |
| Opening date | 1978[1] |
| Owner | Invista Real Estate Investment Management |
| No. of stores and services | 40 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 0 |
| No. of floors | 3 |
| Parking | Multi-storey |
| Website | http://www.wellgatedundee.co.uk/ |
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The Wellgate Shopping Centre is one of the two main shopping centres located in the city centre of Dundee, Scotland, the other being the Overgate Centre.
It comprises three floors, including a food court. The centre has a variety of retailers and eateries, previously including BHS which operated a two-level store at the entrance of the mall. The Dundee Central Library is even adjacent to the third floor of the centre, which is level with Victoria Road. From its early years until the reopening of the largely-rebuilt Overgate Centre in 2000, the Wellgate Centre was Dundee's principal shopping mall.
History
Original Wellgate and construction of the Centre
The centre- whose construction began in the late 1970s- was named after the Wellgate, the thoroughfare that it replaced. It follows the traffic flow of the original Wellgate, which began with a flight of steps at the south end of the Hilltown and then became a street which ended at the junction of the Murraygate and Panmure Street; the two entrances to the Wellgate Centre are at the same locations as those of the original street (with the north entrance having a series of steps).
The 'gate' in Wellgate comes from the Old Norse word 'gata' meaning road or street and has the same origins as the word gait meaning 'to walk'. The street was referred to as 'Wellgate' because it led to a well at the foot of the Hilltown. Gate and gait can often be found in historic and modern street names, normally meaning the same thing and along with the Wellgate, Dundee's compact city centre retains several streets with this characteristic: Nethergate, Overgate, Murraygate, Seagate, and Marketgait.
Proposed refurbishment
In July 2013, it was reported that the owners planned to refurbish the centre, including construction of a 900-seat cinema.[2] In March 2014, the BBC reported that an operator had been found for the proposed cinema, and that development work at the site was expected to take place later that year, taking 12 to 18 months to complete. However this plan has been put on hold indefinetly at the moment.
The plan had been brought back in discussion in August 2018 as a new poll was conducted by Dundee City Council for the Evening Telegraph, Dundee's local paper which showed that a strong majority of people want to see the Wellgate redeveloped in the near future.[3]
Stores and occupents
Below are just a few of the many stores and occupents, as of September 2018[update]
British Heart Foundation, Iceland, New Look, Poundland, Savers, Burger King, McDonalds Subway, Superdrug, The Works, Brighthouse, B&M, Home Bargains, Xercise4Less
References
- ^ http://bygone.dundeecity.gov.uk/bygone-news/april-1978
- ^ "Eight-screen cinema part of 'exciting' Wellgate Centre plans". DC Thomson. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "POLL RESULTS: Calls for cinema in the Wellgate amid concerns of decline in Dundee city centre". Evening Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
