Five decades ago, in 1972, the new Westgate Centre opened and shoppers then were just as excited as those who turned up in 2017 when the centre reopened following a £440m revamp.
In 1972, shoppers gathered to catch a glimpse of Coronation Street star Pat Phoenix who played Elsie Tanner in the TV soap.
The same year Morris dancers on May Morning dished out ‘fertility’ cake.
Fifty years ago, the £1.8m Westgate Shopping Centre opened with a large Selfridges and a Sainsbury’s.
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But plans to revamp it took many years and included many false starts.
In 1999, artists’ impressions of Capital Shopping Centres’ £220m revamped mall were unveiled.
In 2000, Oxford City Council approved the Westgate extension application but Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott threw out the plans.
The decision was overturned but CSC withdrew its application and in 2006 submitted fresh plans for the £300m redevelopment of the Westgate Centre.
In 2010, CSC sold the Westgate Centre to the Crown Estate and Land Securities, which forms a consortium named Westgate Oxford Alliance.
Read more: The early days of Westgate and the Clarendon Centre
In 2013, Westgate Oxford Alliance signed a development agreement, and in 2014 plans for the £440m revamp of the centre were approved and it opened in October 2017, with 100 new shops and restaurants, a cinema and rooftop terrace.
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