Shoppers sentimental as end of era for historic centre nears

Fifty years since it first opened its doors, Bradford's Kirkgate Shopping Centre - once the city's premier retail destination - is in its final days.

Demolition work will begin later this year to make way for the recently approved City Village development, comprising up to 1,000 new homes, with the aim of creating a "stronger, more welcoming, and sustainable future" for Bradford

Meanwhile, firmly stuck in the city's past, and despite winning an international award in 1979, the brutalist concrete shopping precinct has divided opinion.

Some welcome its impending closure, while others are more sentimental about the loss of a city landmark.

On a cold Friday morning in late February, there appears to be little life left in the once-thriving destination, with the number of shuttered units on the ground floor more than double that of those still open for business.

On the first floor, the once bustling market is also closed, with many of the traders relocated to the nearby Darley Street market, which opened last year.

Once an attraction in its own right, most visitors now use the building as a shortcut to reach its replacement, The Broadway, opened in 2015, one staff member says.

"This is how it is," says another bored-looking worker, surveying the sparsely populated ground floor.

"The other day I didn't serve anyone until 2pm."

A few minutes later, a mum calls out to her child, her voice echoing around the empty walkways.

"It's dead now, nobody comes here," says Preet, who is staffing a stall selling handbags and other accessories in the concourse.

Unsurprisingly, the business has suffered from a lack of footfall and Preet admits the end of Kirkgate's life will also mark the end of her uncle's business.

"The Broadway is expensive and there's no other space to open," she says.

"Darley Street is a congested market, it's not nice. Everybody loved this market, it's a shame to see the council shut it down."

Barbara Bailey has fond memories of Kirkgate's heyday. Now 78, she has been coming here since her childhood.

"There were two toy stores - one on each side," she recalls fondly.

"My mum used to know where to find me because I was always there.

"They were still going when I had my first child and I bought him a rocking horse."

Barbara later spent a decade working in the centre from the 1980s through to the 1990s, first at an ice cream parlour before moving on to a bakery.

"It's a shame they have let it get to this because it was a heavily populated shopping centre and people did come here and spend a lot of money," says her daughter, Leanne Porter.

"The Broadway, it's quite expensive for Bradfordians to shop in places like that. We need this market-type culture for people to be able to afford to live with the cost of living," the 45-year-old adds.

"It will be a shame to see it go. It had everything you could possibly need in one place."

Neither Barbara or Leanne approve of the Darley Street market opposite Kirkgate, which opened in August.

Bradford's leaders have embraced change as they look to "unleash" the potential they believe the city has.

Some residents have welcomed the changes, with the Kirkgate Centre previously described as a "blight on the landscape".

But others, like Barbara, lament the loss of the places they knew and loved.

"Every time you go anywhere something has gone missing," she says.

"Some of the changes are alright, some of them I think they could do without."

She is not the only one feeling sentimental. Danielle is 51 years her junior, but echoes her thoughts.

"It's awful and it used to be lovely - I'm sad to see it go," she says as she stops briefly on her way inside to get her eyebrow's waxed with mum Beverley.

"I personally think they should have renovated this one instead of making the Darley market. It's nice, but this feels like home.

"I used to come with my nan, it's always been part of town."

"It's a shame it's in the state it's in," adds Beverley, as the pair head in through one of the few sets of doors not displaying an Out of Order sign.

"The role of town and city centres everywhere is changing," the City Village website states.

"While the success of The Broadway shows the continued strength of retail in Bradford, the sector no longer plays the dominant role that it used to.

"City Village looks to respond to these new challenges."

The project, due to be split into six phases "over a number of years" according to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, will be "transformative for the city centre" said Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe.

"City Village shows the direction of the city centre for the next 10 years – quality housing, more public spaces and balancing retail against other uses that will bring more people into the city centre."

A Bradford Council spokesperson did not provide an exact date for demolition, but said it would take place in 2026.

"The specific timing of serving notice on the final tenants of the Kirkgate Centre and demolition commencing is being carefully managed," they added.

Oscar Selby, an analyst at the economic think tank Centre for Cities, said Bradford "has too much retail space and not enough shoppers" and said "bold intervention" was needed to better suit demand.

According to Selby, city centres that have managed the decline of retail well were those who have turned vacant units into businesses like cafes, bars and gyms.

"Council led re-development is likely to be beneficial, but its success will be determined by wider economic growth and whether Bradford's residents see their incomes increase in the coming years."

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