Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 17th June, 2025)

I sincerely hope it will never look like that. It has about as much character as a bin- bag. At least the current Market is of warm red bricks. The above reminds me of The Arndale Centre which I have heard described as looking like a huge public toilet. Wigan is an ancient town and just doesn't suit the Lego-Land buildings.I know the modernists will be down on me like a ton of bricks so please make them warm, welcoming red ones!

All that i can say is that at this time with insufficient money being allocated from local goverment to wigan council its ridicolous spending money on this project there was nothing wrong with the old one for a little longer the money should have been spent on other important things at these times its not going to make things any better a few shops and a new shopping centre wigan council need to get there priorities right what about housing pot holes i could go on.

it will look like that but give it 18 months then end up like grand arcade white elephant think wigan council losing touch with the working class people off wigan

I agree wholeheartedly with comments byIrene and Val. No sense of priorities and busy massaging egos.

Words fail…but ‘white elephant’ and ‘sore thumb’ comes to mind.
In fact White Elephant. Is a good name for the Market Hall.

i think the driving force is that the shopping centre was empty, and replacing it with revenue generating housing was a no brainer for the council. Design for town centre buildings seems to have been devolved for the last 30 years to a year 1 school class, horrific glass buildings adjacent to Victorian terra cotta is not a good combination

It does look a bit over the top for a good old Lancashire town, I agree with Val's comment...and Irene's !
And just a thought for the day . Why ask for comments on PAD if we all have to agree with the subject of every pic ? We all have a point of view be it good or not.

I agree with you Helen, everyone has a right to their own opinion. It would be very boring if we all had the same opinion about everything.
The thing that makes PAD so interesting is the diversity of views expressed.

I agree Helen the photo draws the comments that’s the heart of the matter and what folk feel about them.
I’m just wondering if the white elephant is a true depiction though. It looks a bit ghostly as if it’s just filling the space. Surely the building won’t be white???

Here Here Helen of Troy.

Irene, I and I'm sure many others are also in agreement and was hoping that the present market hall, and the clock tower too, would be integrated into the new builds, but apparently, not to be. It seems silly that something so iconic will be demolished, though the much loved childrens library on the Wiend that was specifically planned for them, and also only built in the 1980s sadly went the same way - see photos in link: https://www.wigantoday.net/heritage-and-retro/heritage/fascinating-the-ever-changing-face-of-wigans-millgate-over-the-decades-4475281?page=5

Maybe the council keep being captivated and blinded by planners who come along and promise them a golden fleece, then after the town is devastated off they go and try their tactics elsewhere.

Dennis if the Market Hall is as successful as the Middlebrook and Trafford Centre Wigan will be busy again and free parking will make it a success I would think.

John, Wigan will never be as big, or quarter as big, as the REEBOK. Where are people going to park??? The Reebok Car Park alone is bigger then Wigan town centre

Its an artist impression Veronica....hopefully.

Where will people park their car?
Maybe I have missed it, but I have seen no provision for parking on any of the plans I have seen.

Ron your probably correct,but parking charges put people off without a doubt.Bolton is suffering just like Wigan and Bolton have just built apartments on a very convenient car park and have done exactly the same with two reservoirs so it’s forward thinking that should be used.

I gave up with Wiggin town centre years ago , so I couldn’t care less what they choose to do with the place if I’m being honest . But I’ll say this much .

I was born and raised in a terraced property in a community where everyone knew everybody else , most of whom worked in menial relatively low paid jobs .

Everyone was pretty much equal in those days , unlike nowadays where many consider themselves to be superior to their neighbours …
Oh bugger ! … the cat’s fawd asleep ont’ cheerback again and slid down onto mi neck .

I was just about to say that there’s nothing wrong with terraced properties but the damn feline has derailed my train of thought .

I’ll get back later … that’s if I don’t drop off misel ‘ .

Taking up from where I left off prior to the sliding cat Incident , I was about to disclose that despite being anti royalist , I’ve always had a lot of respect for prince Charles … or King Charles , as I believe he’s currently known .

The lad’s taken a fair amount of stick when it comes to having conversations with plants and suchlike , but he’s no mug in my opinion , and I’m fully in accordance with his views on social housing and the design of said housing .

It must surely be better to live in a self contained community than live in a high rise flat having interaction with no one other than the DHL delivery driver …

Oh bugger ! This bloody cat’s skrykin ’ to go out again .

Jesus wept ! … tote that barge … lift that bleed’n bale .

Agreed Ozy. Four of us neighbours in my terrace have lived here well over 50 years and the new younger neighbours seem to have caught the atmosphere and have settled here. It doesn't need to be posh to be "home".

Everything I have always thought about neighbours being
‘shafted’ into high rise flats after the clearance of houses in Scholes. The penny seems to have dropped nowadays with the latest batch of houses being built …whether that concept continues only the council knows! Scholes community was ruined in the sixties. It’s nothing but a void as to how it used to be. Consider what has been demolished since that’s only stood 40 or 50 years! What a waste.