Market research
LANCASTER'S indoor market hall opened amidst a blaze of publicity on September 4 1995, 11 years after its Victorian predecessor was razed to the ground by fire.
The much-anticipated premises were the result of months of building work and came as part of a two-phase 12million scheme which saw the introduction of Marketgate shopping centre, with its flagship Littlewoods store (now New Look) opening in 1996.
The council was unable to fund the development, instead selling the land to Centreville Properties Ltd to carry out the work, and then taking out a 99-year lease on the market hall.
The two-floor market hall – designed to replicate a shopping arcade – housed 55 market stalls.
Traders moved into the hall from their temporary home by the bus station in Damside Street, where they had suffered a dip in trade in earlier months.
Lancaster Market and Tenants' Association chairman Margaret Leach said at the time: "We are happy to be the start of a brand new era for Lancaster."
In 2002 Centreville sold Marketgate, including the market hall, to Edinburgh House Estates for 17.25 million.
Fears that the market might close were first raised in 2003, but were allayed by the city council, which went on to fund an Asian festival in 2005 as part of the market hall's tenth anniversary celebrations.
But in 2008 councillors agreed to look at the possibility of a single retailer taking over the building after a massive price increase was announced on their lease.
Allied (Lancaster) Ltd, who have owned the premises since February 2008, put the council's yearly rent on its lease up from 296,000 to 409,000, a 38 per cent hike.
Allied said the increase was the first since the building opened in 1995.
But last month the council announced an annual loss of 461,000 for 2009/10, which is expected to rise to 492,000 in the coming financial year.
The indoor market now has just 29 stalls. Its planned closure could see the end of an era in Lancaster, a city which has housed a market for more than 900 years, since it was first granted an official market charter in 1193.
Your views
* I was really saddened to hear this. Lancaster Market, given a little time and some TLC, could really blossom. Sure there are stalls in the wrong place, by which I mean the fish stall, but couldn't they move? I travel into Lancaster once or twice a week, mainly to socialise, but I always make the time to visit the haberdashery (best buttons in the whole of Lancashire) for various arty
projects.
Emily Massey
* I know of a site, relatively close to where the market is currently situated, where there are refreshments, not to mention paid holidays and pensions, for all those who work within the building. It's called the Town Hall. Perhaps we should evict the jobsworths and make room for the real grafters – those who make a difference to our community?
Nonplussed
* Once again we see businessmen asking the good citizens of Lancaster and Morecambe to subsidise them so they can make a profit. If the market is so viable why don't the market traders' association get together and buy the building or take responsibility for its running costs?
thelonegunman@thewillies.org.uk
* I am sorry for the market stall operators but if the units aren't viable then they need to close. That said, who in their right mind allows a piece of prime retail space to go to a bargain basement supermarket chain. There is the chance to allow a major retailer such as Debenhams, Primark etc to enter the town and attract shoppers from a wider area and thus improve trade for all the other retailers.
grant.stringer@btinternet.com
Lancaster
* Ask the council for the financial details of the deal...
W Adam
n I remember the original Lancaster Victorian Market before the fire. After the fire a decision was made to redevelop that site and we were 'promised' that as many markets as possible would be looked in the country and that Lancaster would get the 'very best'. Well the result was a great disappointment from day one. The rental of nearly half a million pounds is staggering and I can well understand the council wanting to get rid. But, folks, look at the place! It's not a market as half the stalls are closed. The weekly street markets in the city are far more attractive and colourful. Ask yourself – would we really miss it?
Marniex
* Personally the two businesses I will miss are the fishmonger and the pet shop.
jdpjamesp
* I very rarely use the market, though it's 'nice' to think there is one in the city. I hope the traders can find some other way of serving their public and, perhaps, encouraging other new small, independent stall and shop traders to join them in some new, viable way. Good luck to Corky and his colleagues!
Over the Bridge
* There seems to a lot of comment about people liking market shopping, finding bargains in markets, getting good bacon, etc. But the fact is that you are all in the minority, because if everyone felt like that the place would be full and making money for everyone. I remember using the market before the fire but that is ancient history now and the ways people shop have changed.
Mark67, Lancaster
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