Meridian Shopping

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Meridian Shopping (formerly and more commonly known as The Meridian Centre) is a major shopping centre in the middle of Havant, Hampshire, England. It was built in 1987. It includes big shops such as Wilkinson and Argos and it includes the local library.

Unfortunately, the shopping centre has been underused of late. Most of the space is wasted; the car park occupies the top floor and half of the first floor. The rest of the first floor is the top floor of the shopping centre. There are many units not filled and some units abandoned due to lack of visitors. The main reason to visit the top floor is for access to the library which has its own entrance on the ground floor adjacent to the local bus station. The ground floor has many remaining units with shops such as WHSmith, F. Hinds and Robert Dyas. The ground floor also contains a coffee shop, a QS, and the aforementioned Wilkinson and Argos. There are also several pound shops in the area, including one in the centre itself.

Over the past few years there has been talk of demolishing the 'megastructure' and replacing it with an open-air arcade, much in the vein of Market Parade and the Imperial Arcade. However, the council have surprisingly turned this down. Market Parade is going to be demolished and rebuilt to modern standards with a glass tower as its centrepiece. There are many charity shops in Havant but none are in Meridian Shopping. In early 2006 the centre was refurbished complete with a new logo. Many consider this to be the last chance for the centre to get more visitors.