I visited Coventry’s City Arcade in its final days and it felt dystopian
As things stand, Coventry’s city centre is very much a place of two halves. Around Hertford St and Broadgate, the city is teeming with life as shoppers, entertainers, and diners head in to patronise the variety of businesses, restaurants, and public spaces Coventry has to offer.
While it seems every town and city in the UK has its detractors for its city centre, this part of Coventry is still a magnet for the city’s residents, whether they’re nipping into a shop for 15 mins or sitting out with friends in a cafe for an hour or two. However, walk a bit further south towards the market and it’s a different story.
Approaching the City Arcade from the Shelton Square end, something caused a barrage of pigeons to barrel down the alleyway and along market way, almost bowling me over. It was apt because it felt like it belonged more to them than it did residents like myself.
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I’m going to preface all of what I write with an acknowledgment that this whole site will not look like this forever. The dilapidation and abandonment of this part of the city is temporary.
It’s a fact of life when it comes to urban renewal. There’s a weird twilight zone that comes about in that interim between the businesses relocating and the contractors moving in.
Plans will see the demolition of the City Arcade, Bull Yard, Market Way, Shelton Square and Hertford Street. Around 1,600 homes will be built as well as retail space, it is understood, although many existing shops have been forced to move out to make way for the redevelopment.
Developers have 'levered in' private investment, said Councillor Jim O'Boyle last year. He told the BBC that the project was a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' - although traders hit by the demolition works have previously criticised the plans .
As things stand today, the City Arcade is nothing but a glorified alleyway and pigeon coop. There are no shops, no businesses, no activity at all - the ‘we’ve moved’ signs are the most common street decoration in these parts.
If a building could verbalise its yearning for the sweet release of death, the City Arcade would be deafening Coventry. If there’s an architectural equivalent to palliative care, the City Arcade is certainly undergoing it.
It’s sad because one can see the dreams of the 1950’s and 60’s in the City Arcade. It feels like a modern take on a mediaeval alleyway. Coupled with the Bull Yard and Shelton Square, it’s easy to imagine how these architects envisioned Coventrians driving their Hillmans and Triumphs to the city, sitting amongst the futuristic brutalist buildings, and flitting from shop to shop on a wave of optimism for a city come back to life after the horror of the Blitz.
READ MORE: Shops from City Arcade we've loved and lost as huge changes coming to Coventry
Today, those dreams feel as faded, stained, and cracked as the City Arcade itself. It certainly feels like a place where its best years are behind it.
While it’s unclear when the City Arcade will be finally closed off to the public, it’s expected to be soon. So if you have any fond memories or feel like reminiscing about the Arcade’s glory days, it would be wise to do that sooner rather than later.