Keel Row demolition set to get under way.
Demolition of the Keel Row shopping mall in Blyth town centre will begin on Monday the 30th of September. The centre which closed in early 2024 had been struggling for some time from empty units and a general lack of footfall and had become commercially unviable.
The centre was purchased by Northumberland County Council in 2023 from it's previous operator Northumberland Estates.
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Businesses adjoining the centre and the town centre in general will remain open during the demolition process.
A small area of the Keel Row car park will be fenced off for safety reasons but the car park will remain open.
Future plans for the site remail a little vague, On a Facebook post South Blyth Councillor Daniel Carr wrote..
**Future Site Development**: Once the demolition is complete, the site will be ready for new investment, including the Energy Central Institute, a higher education facility focused on clean energy. The full masterplan will be revealed later this year, with developments set for 2025.
This is part of the Energising Blyth Programme aimed at renewing and growing our town.
The last days of the centre in February 2024.
Writing about the purchase of the site, Northumberland County Council State on their website
“The Keel Row acquisition means we can bring forward more major development in the town centre including investment in educational, innovation and cultural activities. This will make the town a more welcoming, safe, and popular place to visit, attracting a wide range of people wanting to work, learn and enjoy all the town has to offer.”
Tony Quinn, Director of Technology Development at Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and vice chair of the Town Deal Board, said: “The purchase of the site paves the way for the development of the hugely exciting Energy Central Campus project that will bring the cutting edge research facilities we have in Blyth closer to the region’s colleges and universities, creating learning opportunities and jobs, through apprenticeships and partnerships.”
Construction of the Keel Row in 1990.
Announcing the plans on his Facebook page, councillor Carr's post was met with an overwhelmingly negative deluge of comments, some of them are shown below..
"This is the biggest mistake for this town centre. The lifeblood of a town centre is retail and leisure, such as good cafe's etc. So here there is a ready made covered shopping centre with free parking, ideal to entice retailers. Instead it's being demolished for an education facility. Negative growth, last nail in the coffin."
"South Blyth Councillor Daniel Carr do the views of the residents ever count? There’s not one positive comment on this thread and it’s not surprising. Cinemas are closing across the country and we are demolishing a perfectly functional building . For those of us that have lived here all our lives and seen Blyth thrive this is heartbreaking. One bad decision after another."
"Can we not have more retail in our town centre? NOT energy centers and higher education facilities? what an odd location for the pair."
"I don't understand why this needed to be built on this site specifically? Surely a better use could've been made of the land?"
There were a few positive comments mixed in with the anger..
"Great to see a bold plan for Blyth. Town centres need money. For decades now local people have chosen to spend theirs elsewhere. Businesses are not charities and they locate where they can make most money. Will these new projects work? We will find out. But allowing the town centre to continue to go down hill was not a better option. It would have been great if the regeneration could have started many years ago and caused less disruption, but we are where we are. If the 40,000 Blyth residents SPEND YOUR MONEY IN THE TOWN CENTRE the shops will come running back. There are still some great little shops and services with local owners and some national chain shops… support them"
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The Keel Row opened in 1991 after a large area of largely unused buildings in the town centre were demolished. The site was once home to a famous Victorian Theatre, a grand Methodist Church and Blyth Valley Council's former offices.
Over the years it has hosted some of the UK's biggest names in retail as well as some long gone local businesses. When it opened, you could find amongst others, Rumbelows, the electrical appliance store. Adams, selling children's clothes. Crazy Georges, Geordie Jeans, Deans Flowers, Dorothy Perkins, Etam, John Menzies and of course Wimpey!
Northumberland County Council have said that the statue of Willie Carr which once stood proudly in the centre of the mall, before being unceremoniously dumped next to the back door, will be placed in storage and a plan for relocation is under development.
Do you have an opinion on the plans for the Keel Row?
Have your say here.
