Eastgate Shopping Centre, often simply referred to as Eastgate, is a shopping centre located in the heart of Basildon, Essex, with bus and train facilities all close by. In 2010 the shopping centre attracted nearly 15 million visitors.
The Genesis of a New Town
The development of Basildon as a new town began during fifties and was based upon creating housingand employment for residents, many of whom moved from London. Many large companies moved to the town as industrial estates sprung up on the outskirts of the town with a modern road system to provide links to the major trunk roads, the A127 and the A13. Although mergers, acquisitions and the restructuring of manufacturing industry have since changed the profile of local businesses the industrial areas remain a major source of employment in southeast Essex.
Development of Basildon Town Centre also dates from the fifties and by 1970 it comprised 70 acres (280,000 m2) and 205 stores of all sizes totalling 1,100,000 sq ft (100,000 m2) of retail space. It was one of the largest pedestrian precincts in Britain, with entertainment and leisure facilities, an open-air market, car parking for 5,000 vehicles and bus and railway stations. By the mid-1970s, shopping and commercial facilities had not kept pace with an expanding population and increased visitors. A decision was therefore taken by Basildon Development Corporation to dedicate more space to better shopping facilities to give Basildon added status as a major town centre for retailers. The concept of Eastgate thus emerged.
Today the borough of Basildon has a population of more than 160,000 residents. The town centre is a leading shopping destination in the southeast of England with over 300 units, and with Eastgate Shopping Centre at the core of retailing.
Eastgate Opens
It was officially opened to much acclaim by Prince Edward in 1985 and was originally owned by Norwich Union, who owned the former CGU office block attached to the shopping centre. Today, Eastgate is owned by British Land.
When Eastgate opened it was the largest shopping centre in Essex, and one of the largest in the UK. According to the District Council, at this time Basildon town centre "had the most advanced indoor shopping centre anywhere". It was a novelty as there were no other malls nearby and as a result it became very busy.
The Eastgate of the eighties comprised two giant stores. The first, a Sainsbury’s SavaCentre hypermarket was replaced with an Asda store in 2004, while a year later the then Allders was replaced with a Debenhams store in 2005.
Improvements to Eastgate
Eastgate has undergone a number of facelifts since 1985. Its most recent substantial refurbishment was in 2007, at a cost of more than £10m, which included the opening of state-of-the-art and environmentally-friendly new toilets and baby care facilities by Dr David Bellamy. The refurbishment also included replacing lifts, lighting, escalators, floors and fascias, plus a completely redesigned Food Terrace area with expanded seating for around 50% more covers.
Layout
The Centre has 4 levels. The ground and first floors are house most of the stores, while the second and third floors are branded as "The Galleries" where smaller independent retailers trade.
At 203,000 and 165,000 sq ft (15,300 m2) respectively Eastgate's Debenhams and ASDA are their companies' largest superstores in the region. However, Eastgate also has many more top High Street names among its hundred-plus stores including Next, HMV, River Island, H&M, Primark and New Look. In 2010 a brand new Topshop and Topman opened, while the adjacent New Look underwent a major refurbishment with vastly increased floorspace on the Upper Mall that year. New stores have continued to join Eastgate's extensive portfolio. These include a large Poundworld in East Walk, while Carphone Warehouse relocated to the Centre from the Town Square during autumn.
The Centre has its own multi-storey car park with room for nearly 1,000 vehicles, and Asda also has a large car park and a petrol station.
Features
Located on the ground floor of the mall is a plaque commemorating the opening with a time capsule. A copy of the Evening Echo of the day it opened is thought to be inside.
On the Upper Mall of the shopping centre is the Cats Cradle Pussiwillow III Clock. It was created by Rowland Emett in 1981. and was originally placed outside what is now ASDA on the Lower Mall of the shopping centre. Shoppers are able to donate money to a local charity by throwing money into the water surrounding the clock.
The clock is one of a number of notable Basildon works of contemporary art that provide an interesting attraction for visitors. The Mother and Child statue in the Town Square was created by Maurice Lambert. It was commissioned in 1959 to symbolise the growth of Basildon as a New Town. Above the Bus Station, just outside Eastgate, is a 315 ft (96 m) x 13 ft (4.0 m) mosaic of 16,000 individual tiles created by the artist John Gordon in the 1960s. Slightly further away from the shopping centre stands St. Martin's Bell Tower, a glass tower, unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 March 1999.
Corporate Responsibility
As a shopping centre standing at the heart of its local community, Eastgate has a full Corporate Responsibility programme that it shares among its shoppers.
Environmental management is a key aspect of Eastgate's CR ethos, the centre proactively seeking to make Basildon a greener town in which to live. In the early part of the last decade, Eastgate was among the first shopping centres in the UK to implement measures to reduce waste and energy and since then has won numerous awards local, regional and national levels in recognition of it environmental efforts.
Eastgate works closely with various organisations representing health, education and law and order to generate "tangible benefits" for Basildon. These include the local arts industry, and in particular the Basildon Arts Trust, the Basildon Arts Trail and the Basildon Heritage Trust. In July 2011, the Centre opened a gallery titled Basildon-Eastgate Art on the Upper Mall which provides opportunities for local artists to display their works. A similar initiative in 2006 attracted 51,000 visitors over the six-month period that the exhibition ran, thereby demonstrating the popularity and strength of art in Basildon.
Community Radio
In December 2003 and December 2004 a radio station, Eastgate FM, was launched on a 28-day Restricted Service License (RSL). The station broadcast during the run up to Christmas. A previous incarnation of Eastgate FM broadcast in June 1999.
These were the forerunners of an exciting community radio project and since 2007 Eastgate has sponsored and hosted Gateway 97.8 (formally Gateway FM) which broadcasts from a shop studio unit in the Upper Galleries with other facilities dotted around the community.
Gateway won a full time community licence for the area to broadcast for 5 years from 25 September 2010 on 97.8FM, and provides media and broadcasting training for the community from its Eastgate home.
Stores in the Eastgate Centre include: