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The Merrion Centre in Leeds, England, is a shopping centre opened in 1964. From construction to the present day the centre has been owned and managed by Town Centre Securities. Originally open air, the centre had since had a roof installed during the 1970s onwards. It is an early example of a mixed-use development including offices, car parking, retail (including a Morrisons supermarket) and entertainment including a bowling alley, a nightclub and several public houses. Currently most retail in the centre is aimed more towards the budget end of the market which means the centre is especially popular with working-class people and students. The Merrion Market area featured a range of independent stalls, shops and cafés ranging from mainstream but downmarket to idiosyncratic, but it has been closed to make room for The New Front, an area backing onto the arena which contains restaurants, cafès and leisure facilities. The centre had originally included an Odeon Cinema when it opened, however this closed in 1977 following a screening of ''Gone with the Wind''. It remains empty and unused to this day only opening occasionally for events such as Heritage Open Days. The cinema inside is notable in the fact that other than the removal of the seating, it is unchanged since closing with original operating manuals and film posters in place and is admired by fans of 1960s and 1970s culture. The ground floor entrance is opposite the entrance to Morrisons and has been blocked up and replaced with Cash Machines. One of the nightclubs within The Merrion Centre was the now-legendary 'Bar Phono' originally known as Le Phonographique, widely reputed to be the birthplace of the Gothic subculture. A pillar was located in the middle of the dancefloor which is what caused the unique goth two steps forward two steps back dance. The former Barclays Bank on the front of the Merrion Centre has since been converted into 'Oceana', which has become a new popular Leeds nightclub. The Merrion Centre is currently undergoing minor refurbishment. The western side of the centre has been re-clad in part and the interior is being painted. New tenants have moved in such as a new Sainsbury's Local. The centre's Morrisons supermarket has been rebranded to fit the company's new corporate image, with minor refurbishment inside. Photographs have been put up inside the supermarket showing the shop in 1973, with photographs depicting amongst other things the tobacco and deli counters. The centre features, in a glass cage, one of two examples of Rowland Emett's 'thing', "The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basketweave Mark Two Gentleman’s Flying Machine". There are plaques in the floor at each entrance stating "Private property, no public right of way" to prevent the walkthoughs becoming public footpaths. Woolworths' relocation to the Merrion Centre, from Briggate (now the House of Fraser) in the early 1990s provided the centre with another major retailer and increased footfall. The Morrisons in the centre is the main supermarket in the city centre and has seen a surge in custom since the building of many city centre flats in the property boom of the 2000s. However most of these are towards the southern end of the city centre, and for them the Morrisons in The Penny Hill Centre, Hunslet is nearer and also offers free parking. == Criticisms of the centre's design == *It has been commented that since the centre was fully enclosed in the 1970s, the large open entrances have led to the inner halls becoming something of a wind tunnel. *The mock Georgian wing of the shopping centre has never been fully occupied since the centre opened, although there are more shops there currently. The positioning of the wing (towards the rear of the shopping centre, down the side of Morrisons) has led to it almost becoming a 'dead mall' at certain times in the centre's history. *Since introducing a smoking ban in January 2007 (in all enclosed areas except the public houses), the ban has been largely ignored. Many other shopping centres have similar experiences. The Horsefair Centre in Wetherby has a similar issue. Both centres are enclosed, however have no doors at the entrances, meaning people are likely to walk in through the street smoking. The experience of 2009 suggests that the ban is now fully observed throughout the Centre. *The entrance onto Merrion Street (probably the most used one) has a fairly steep ramp, making access difficult for some elderly and disabled customers. *The sunken square towards the rear of the centre has been an unused space since the subway closed in 2000. For many years this had two outdoor escalators, although they soon fell into disrepair after their installation in the early 1970s, and stood for many years unused. They were fenced off for public safety. In 2007 they were replaced with steps. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Merrion Centre, Leeds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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