The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Wellgate no more?
Shopping centre could be demolished in ambitious city plan
Dundee’s Wellgate Centre could be demolished as part of a long-term regeneration plan for the city centre.
Tearing down the iconic shopping destination is one option Dundee City Council is open to as it seeks a new vision to breathe life into the centre.
The proposal is one of a number of options in the council’s 30-year plan – Dundee 2050: Our Vision for the Future.
Also included in the document is how the council will tackle rapidly declining footfall and the devastating impact of shop closures such as Debenhams.
Design images, described as “purely conceptual” by the council, show a modern building where the Wellgate Centre currently stands.
And the council has stressed that the designs have been produced to stimulate debate.
The report states: “The Wellgate provides a significant, long-term, opportunity for the city centre.
“Retail trends are changing rapidly, and the owners will periodically review the viability of their retail assets.
“In the event that the centre owners wish in the longer term to consider a comprehensive redevelopment of the site, including refurbishment, partial or wholesale demolition, the council will work collaboratively to explore this.”
Wellgate Shopping Centre could be demolished as part of a long-term regeneration plan for Dundee city centre, the council has revealed.
Completely tearing down the building is one of a number of options on the table in a new vision for the struggling city centre.
The shopping destination could also be refurbished or just partially demolished in the council’s ambitious 30-year vision.
The area around the centre could also be pedestrianised once again to forge better links with Hilltown.
A document titled, Dundee 2050: Our Vision for the Future, outlines how Dundee City Council will try to tackle rapidly declining footfall and the devastating impact of shop closures such as Debenhams.
Design impressions, described as “purely conceptual”, show a modern building where the Wellgate centre currently stands.
The document includes a number of other “case studies” alongside images showing how different areas of the city centre could look if drastic changes were made.
The council stressed the designs were produced to stimulate debate.
The report states: “The Wellgate provides a significant, long-term, opportunity for the city centre.
“The council supports increased leisure uses within the centre, which, in combination with the central library’s function, could provide an alternative future for this asset.
“Retail trends are changing rapidly, and the owners will periodically review the viability of their retail assets.
“In the event that the centre owners wish in the longer term to consider a comprehensive redevelopment of the site, including refurbishment, partial or wholesale demolition, the council will work collaboratively to explore this.”
It’s not clear what would happen to the centre’s iconic clock, which has enthralled children for decades with its nursery rhymes and colourful figures.
The Wellgate was purchased by Belgate Estates at auction last December for £1.4 million but the new owner is still waiting for the council confirming the transfer of the ground lease.
Belgate have previously described the Wellgate as “very much a long-term hold” and said it wants to attract more shoppers to the centre.
The report adds: “The images shown in the plan are purely conceptual and are intended to help stimulate debate.
“Redevelopment of the site has the potential to address multiple issues with the building’s current use and its relationship to the surrounding streets, buildings and spaces.
“By exploring the replacement of the existing building with city blocks akin to the city’s historic layout, we could re-establish key pedestrian links to Hilltown, improve permeability, incorporate and celebrate St Andrew’s Church, and introduce a significant new mixed-use and residential quarter.
“The scale of the site would allow the inclusion of landscaping, courtyards and amenity spaces to create an attractive setting for residences, greatly supporting the plan’s goal of increasing residential density.”
Other case studies include making the East Port area a pedestrian gateway to the proposed Eden Project and making Bell Street car park a “sustainable transport hub”.
The ambitious plan also reveals the council would consider the demolition or refurbishment of the Keiller Centre, where most units are vacant.
The draft document has already been agreed upon by Dundee City Council’s city development committee and forms the City Centre Strategic Investment Plan.
TSome of the ideas thrown into the mix show great ambition
he reinvention of Dundee in recent years has been quite remarkable. Gone are the post-industrial doldrums that beset the city following the demise of Timex and the Caledon shipyard and the highs and lows of major employers such as Michelin and NCR.
In its place has emerged a city with a new economic and social heartbeat, and one confident enough to bang its own drum.
That has not come easily.
In fact, it has taken multiple decades, many millions and a huge physical and mental effort.
But, while much improved for both residents and visitors alike, the city is far from the finished article.
Recognising that fact, a new draft Dundee City Centre Strategic Investment Plan has been compiled to frame the conversation about what the city might look like in another generation’s time.
Some of the ideas thrown into the mix – such as the Eden Scotland development and the tearing down of the Wellgate centre and improvements to the Hilltown – show great ambition, while others appear more mundane but aimed at improving amenity and accessibility and raising living standards.
New ideas will form and many of the proposals in the document may never come to pass, or will come to fruition in a different way than currently envisaged.
It is important the city – which has enjoyed envious glances in recent years from bigger cities doing lesser things – does not rest on its laurels and continues to embrace new ideas and strategic plans, not just for the central area but for the city as a whole.
Doing so, to date, has helped Dundee build a life sciences sector, grow a creative industries cluster, completely reshape much of the city’s physical infrastructure and attract the V&A.
That is a track record not only to be proud of, but to build upon in the years ahead.