Grand Central Stockport

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Grand Central Stockport, locally known as Grand Central is a leisure and entertainment complex located on Wellington Road South (A6) in Stockport, Greater Manchester. It is located adjacent to Stockport railway station. Redevelopment, with the target completion date in 2009, will add residential and a more significant retail element to the complex, whilst retaining the existing entertainment outlets such as the cinema and swimming pool (see 'Redevelopment' below). It is currently owned by Targetfollow in partnership with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.

1 List of Outlets
2 Redevelopment
3 Transport Links
4 Trivia
5 References
6 External links

[edit] List of Outlets

10 screen Cineworld multiplex cinema^[1] (formerly UGC, Virgin Cinemas and MGM)
Pizza Hut
Subway
McDonald's Drive Thru
The Tasty Fish chip-shop (as in The Other Two song of the same name).
A Tenpin bowling alley ^[2]
'Laser Quest' Arcade^{[citation needed]}.
The largest Swimming Pool in the Borough of Stockport, known as Grand Central Pools and operated by Serco.^[3]
A Health and Fitness Centre, within the Grand Central Pools^[3]

There was formerly a Burger King on the site, but this closed around 2003, whilst only the one which still exists in the area is in Stockport town centre.

[edit] Redevelopment

It was announced in February 2007 that the complex will be redeveloped by the local council and property company Targetfollow, at an estimated cost of £100 million^[4].The developers, Targetfollow, expect to be the work to have been completed by 2010^[5]. The Grand Central Squares and Heaven and Hell nightclubs closed some while earlier^[specify];Brannigan's bar shut down more recently^[specify].It is generally thought the council want to make the area more family orientated after Grand Central became notorious over the years with its reputation for drunken violence from youthful revellers.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Transport Links

Extensive carparking is available within the complex operated by RCP Parking Ltd, with over 554 spaces. Parking charges range from £1.00 for 3 Hours to £7.50 for a whole days parking^[6]. The amount of car-parking space is set to be more than doubled with the redvelopment plans as there are plans to build a multi-storey car park within the complex^[7]. Public transport connections are good with the towns mainline railway station located at the rear of the complex, providing rail services locally and rail services to many destinations across the UK (see Stockport railway station). There are also a number of bus stops located at the front of the complex on the A6 road providing services into the town centre and to the North towards Manchester and south towards Hazel Grove and Buxton. The town centre and bus station is only located a short walk down the hill.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Famous visitors to Grand Central Leisure Park include Jason Donovan and Go West (as musical guests in Volts and Brannigan's respectively), Emma Morton-Smith (as clubber) whilst Mr. Scuff posed for press photos here. Sarah Harding and broadcaster Chelsea Norris used to work here; Sarah as part of the promotions team for Heaven and Hell and Chelsea in the Pizza Hut restaurant at the front of the park.