The Frenchgate Shopping Centre (formerly Arndale Centre) is a large

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

located in the city centre of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England. It is named after the street of the same name that formed one of the old gates of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Doncaster. The centre has been the heart of the city for over 40 years and was originally called the Arndale Centre because it was built, owned and managed by the Arndale Group. It was renamed in 1988 after a change of ownership, with the new name reflecting the name of the street which passes to the east of the centre and which is one of Doncaster's main shopping streets. The sale of the centre came just a year after the Frenchgate had undergone a £200 million facelift to transform it into the country's first shopping centre with integrated

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

and retail interchange. Before the change of name from Arndale to Frenchgate Centre, the centre was home to a controversial statue entitled 'The Lovers', which depicted a naked couple in a passionate embrace and which was the subject of many complaints from mothers who claimed that it was not appropriate for young children to see. In 2004 the Northern Bus Station and Gresley House, which were located on the northern side of Trafford Way, the road that passed round the northern side of the Frenchgate Centre, and where the rear entrance and service areas were located, were demolished to make way for a new Transport interchange and extension to the Frenchgate Centre. As part of this project the centre also received a major multimillion-pound refurbishment, incorporating the centre into the new

transport interchange A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...

. During the building of the extension, which involved building a tunnel over Trafford Way, part of the tunnel collapsed, severely injuring one of the building workers from the site. The extension and transport interchange opened to the public on 8 June 2006.

References

External links

Travel South Yorkshire website
{{Shopping centres in Yorkshire and the Humber Shopping centres in South Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Doncaster Shopping malls established in 1967

See also

References

External links