Capitol Centre geograph-3873455-by-Jaggery

Capitol Centre () (previously: Capitol Exchange Centre ()) is an indoor

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

in the city of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales. Functioning as one of the city's retail malls, The building is built on the site of the former Capitol Theatre, and is situated at the eastern end of Queen Street near the Dumfries Place bus terminus and

Cardiff Queen Street railway station Cardiff Queen Street railway station () is a railway station serving the north and east of Central Cardiff, Wales. It is the fourth busiest railway station in Wales. It is located near the major thoroughfare of Queen Street and is one of 20 st ...

. It was anchored by a large H&M store, with the front of the centre being dominated by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

since Virgin Megastores and

Zavvi Zavvi was a British music and entertainment retailer, founded in September 2007 by Simon Douglas and Steve Peckham purchasing and renaming the UK division of Virgin Megastores. In December 2008, the retailer entered administration, and the fin ...

ceased operations in 2009.

has dominated the front of the Capitol Centre since November 2012.

History

The Capitol Centre was opened in 1990, with attempts to replicate the original architecture. Ceramic tiles from the previous Victorian Dutch Cafe tearooms were incorporated on the eastern exterior. The style of build dated very quickly and, in 1999, the centre underwent a £10 million redevelopment, which included the refurbishment of the pedestrian areas, the removal of the

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

and new entrances into the centre (although much of the original external facade still remains). It was completed in November 1999. There were plans to develop 164 apartments, plus retail and commercial space and additional car parking facilities at the corner of North Edward Street and Station Terrace. This would provide 50 per cent additional spaces, bringing the total car parking spaces up to 632. The scheme architects, Dobson Architects, expected it could be completed by 2012, but this never happened. In 2015 Capitol Centre was bought by new owner NewRiver Retail. In 2022 plans were revealed to create a new 14,500 sq ft food court in attempts to revive the centre's fortunes.

Cinema

The centre had originally also housed a five-screen Odeon cinema up until 2001, it has reopened in April 2015 operated by Premiere Cinemas. In October 2022, Premier Cinema closed permanently.

References

External links

*
Capitol Centre official site
{{Economy and Industry of Cardiff Economy of Cardiff Shopping arcades in Cardiff Castle, Cardiff 1990 establishments in Wales Commercial buildings completed in 1990

History

Cinema

See also

References

External links