page_title: The Galleries (Wigan)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Galleries (Wigan) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Galleries, Wigan Escalator and clock area
context_page_description: The Galleries is a shopping complex in the town centre of Wigan, Greater Manchester owned by Wigan Council. It is divided into three sections formed from three formally independent schemes: The Galeries Shopping Centre, Marketgate Shopping Centre and The Makinson Arcade. The six-acre complex features a combination of enclosed malls, walkways and open squares. In total there is around 440,000 square feet of retail space.
context_section_description: The Marketgate Shopping Centre, originally called "The Wigan Centre Arcade", was built 1972 in the town centre on former commercial yards and markets. It opened in 1974 and went under radical remodelling in 1988 when the adjoining Galleries Shopping Centre was constructed. The Galleries, with then 60 retail spaces, was completed 1990 and opened in 1991. The many arcades and walks in the Galleries are named after the former local authorities which now make-up the Wigan Metropolitan Borough. The Galleries was owned by Wigan Council who sold it to the private sector in 1996 for over £90 million. These centres, though connected, were independent of one another and were only brought into joint ownership in 2002 when Prime Commercial Properties acquired both premises. In 2006 they were sold to Propinvest Limited in a portfolio transaction. Subsequently, Propinvest also acquired the nearby Victorian Makinson Arcade, built in the 1890s. In October 2015, Colony Capital purchased the complex as part of a portfolio transaction, and commissioned the Ellandi retail group to manage the centre.
  Due to 'years of stagnation and decline' the complex was brought back under public ownership by Wigan Council in March 2018, who purchased it for £8 million, using money from the council's Manchester Airport dividend. This was part of The Deal program to revitalise the town centre. In 2019, The Fire Within Festival was held on the top floors of the Galleries in six vacant retail spaces. It featured art, performances and exhibitions, and was managed by the local artists AL and AL.
caption: Inside Leigh Arcade in the Galleries
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