The Red Dragon Centre is an indoor entertainment and leisure complex in southern

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 ...

, the capital of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It was originally known as the Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village when it opened in August 1997. The complex features restaurants, cafés, a

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

bowling alley with arcade amusements, an Odeon multiplex cinema, a casino, gym and an on-site car park. It is located in the

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...

area, opposite the

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre () is Wales' national arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of 26–28 November 2004 and phase 2 opened on ...

. This is close to the A4232 and near

Cardiff Bay railway station Cardiff Bay railway station (), formerly ''Cardiff Bute Road'', is a railway station, station serving the Cardiff Bay and Butetown areas of Cardiff, Wales. It is the southern Terminal station, terminus of the Butetown branch line 1 mile (1.5 ...

. It is directly served by

Cardiff Bus Cardiff Bus () is the main operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. The company is wholly owned by Cardiff Council and is one of the few municipal bus companies to remain in council ow ...

routes 6 (''

Baycar Baycar (also styled as baycar) is a bus service in Cardiff, connecting the city centre and Cardiff Bay. The service forms part of the wider Cardiff Bus network. The baycar used to be themed with its own branded vehicles, bus shelters and board ...

'') and 8 (via Grangetown, Central Station) to the city centre.

History

The centre opened in 1997 as the Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village. The centre was renamed in 2000 as Red Dragon Centre (named after the commercial radio station for Cardiff and Newport, Red Dragon FM) Red Dragon FM has since been rebranded as

Capital South Wales Capital South Wales is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global as part of the Capital (radio network), Capital network. It broadcasts to Cardiff and Newport, Wales, Newport and the ...

. The station is based in the centre, alongside

Heart South Wales Heart South Wales is a regional radio station that broadcasts to South and West Wales from studios in Cardiff Bay. The station is owned and operated by Global Radio and forms part of the expanded Heart radio network of stations. Background Real ...

. The multiplex cinema opened in October 1997 and was originally managed by United Cinemas International (UCI). However, in 2004 Odeon and UCI were bought by private equity firm, Terra Firma, and the two companies were merged under the Odeon name. On 17 December 2019, it was announced that

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff () is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Administrative divisions of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

's cabinet had been granted permission for the local authority to purchase the Red Dragon Centre from the British Airways Pension Fund (BAPF) for an undisclosed sum. An element of the purchase price would only be payable to the pension fund once a planning application had been submitted for the new arena project on any part of the multi-acre Atlantic Wharf site (the combined County Hall on Schooner Way and Red Dragon Centre on Hemingway Road) within a 10 year period. In 2020, the BAPF sold the centre to the council for a reported £60m.

Future plans

There are plans to replace the centre with a new building "in the coming years", as part of wider plans to regenerate the Atlantic Wharf area with a large mixed-use development situated on a 30 acres (12 ha) site; this would include new council offices, waterfront apartments, a replacement hotel and "immersive" arts theatre to sit alongside a new 15,000 capacity indoor arena.

Centre tenants

Current tenants include: *

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* Cadwaladers Coffee House *

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* Odeon *

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References

External links

* {{Economy and Industry of Cardiff Economy of Cardiff Tourist attractions in Cardiff Culture in Cardiff Buildings and structures in Cardiff Entertainment venues in Wales Buildings and structures completed in 1997 1997 establishments in Wales

History

Future plans

Centre tenants

See also

References

External links