A new dawn for shopping (From Bournemouth Echo)

A new dawn for shopping

7:00pm Monday 29th June 2009 in

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When it was built 40 years ago it was at the forefront of a revolution that changed the way we shop.

Poole’s Arndale Centre was one of only two of its kind, leading the way to the tills by bringing a range of shops inside a modern precinct.

Four decades later the renamed Dolphin Centre is celebrating its birthday with a day of family fun activities on Saturday and an exhibition which has combed the Daily Echo archives for cuttings.

The centre has grown over the years and now includes 115 stores, some of which – M&S, Beales, Oswald Bailey, HM Samuel and Boots – have been there since the start.

Poole’s run-down town centre was transformed when work began in June 1966 on a new road layout.

Arndale Property Trust’s proposals were selected from 20 companies which submitted schemes, and the £2 million development began to rise from the remains of the High Street, Seldown Lane and Kingland Road.

The mayor Alderman Ron Hart cut the first turf in March 1967 to launch the building of the centre, which began with the new bus terminal.

An American-style shopping mall with 93 shops, stores and offices was phased over two years and included a sports centre, “reckoned to be one of the finest in England”.

An advertisement in the Evening Echo in September 1968 boasted of a “new concept in shopping comfort and convenience” and a unique feature was the second floor library.

By the time the Arndale Centre was opened on July 1 1969 by the Mayor, Alderman Arthur Lloyd Allen, the cost had risen to £3m.

A little bit of history was made at Beales with the presence of Bennett Beale, 89, who as a child was at the opening of his family’s original Bournemouth store.

So successful was the centre during its first year, with 200,000 people a week passing through the doors, that plans were announced to extend it at its first birthday party.

More multi-million development swept away more of the old town and created Falkland Square and a change of identity in 1988.

A competition to find a new name resulted in 175 people out of 1,000 plus entries suggesting Poole’s emblem, and the Dolphin Centre was born.

But as one shopper at the name-change predicted: “It will always be the Arndale, whatever it’s called.”

Millions of pounds have been spent on refurbishment over the years and the centre, acquired by Grosvenor in 2003, attracts millions of shoppers a year.

The surprise return last year of the original wooden animals – hippo, turtle and whale – delighted many who grew up clambering all over them.

“We are very proud to be celebrating our 40th anniversary,” said Stephanie Connelly, centre manager. “ This shopping centre has been a very important part of the town’s history for a long time,” she added,