Antonine Shopping Centre

Forming the southeastern section of the Town Centre complex in Cumbernauld (North Lanarkshire), the Antonine Shopping Centre was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal on 18th July 2007, having been designed to replace the worst of the earlier structure. Named in honour of the nearby Antonine Wall, it cost £40 million and has as its anchors a Tesco Extra supermarket, in a separate but linked building, and the Irish department store, Dunnes Stores, together with 42 other retail outlets. The architects were Keppie Design. The Antonine Centre extends to 33,000 sq. m (350,000 sq. feet) and is connected by walkways to the rest of the Town Centre complex. That complex was built by the Cumbernauld Development Corporation in a series of phases between 1963 and 1981 as the world's first multi-level enclosed town centre. The area now occupied by the Antonine Centre was the rear part of Phase I, as well as Phase III - a single large space built 1972-75 for the discount department store Woolco, with 9754 sq. m (105,000 sq. feet) of floor space and an underground car park. Woolco closed in 1986 but the space was then occupied by a Gateway supermarket that was taken over by Asda two years later. This store was demolished in 1996 and the rear part of Phase I was also reduced to rubble in 2001. Building of the Antonine Shopping Centre began in 2006 and was completed the following year. Whereas the main bulk of the Town Centre had at least begun in municipal ownership, the Antonine Centre is a private development, owned by London & Regional Properties.

The immense St. Enoch Clock was given to the town by Glasgow businessman Raymond Gillies in 1977 to celebrate its 21st anniversary. Constructed by Edinburgh-based clockmaker James Ritchie & Sons in 1809, the clock was installed in St. Enoch's Station in Glasgow, which was later used by rail passengers travelling to Cumbernauld, but closed in 1966. The clock was reinstalled in Cumbernauld Town Centre and started by HM Queen Elizabeth II as part of her Silver Jubilee celebrations. It came to fame when it appeared as the backdrop to a scene in the Bill Forsyth film Gregory's Girl (1981). The clock was placed in storage when this part of the town centre was demolished but was reinstated. close to its originally position, although no longer forming the centrepiece it had once been.


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