PLANS to revive one of Wales’ busiest shopping centres by bringing an empty department store back into use were set in motion two years ago.
In April 2023 plans for a £4.1 million makeover of the former House of Fraser store in Cwmbran were agreed, with Torfaen Borough Council putting up £2.5m in Welsh Government funding towards the project.
The private owners of the Cwmbran Centre, L&C Investments, were required to provide £1.5m which was 38 per cent of the total investment.
At the time the centre’s once flagship site, that was central to development of the new town when it opened as the David Evans department store in the 1960s, was covered in scaffolding following the demise of House of Fraser which closed in Cwmbran in June 2022.
When the overhaul of the empty three-storey former department store in Gwent Square was agreed it was said a new fashion shop and gym would “act as a catalyst for attracting new high quality retailers to the town”.
It was also intended to give other “key partners” confidence to invest in future phases of development of the main square that is also home to the six-storey Gwent House office block and the Congress Theatre.
The council also said it was working on a ‘placemaking plan’ for Cwmbran to guide development which is expected to be agreed later this year.
In August 2023 plans to convert the empty shop to a 24 hour, seven days a week gym operated by retailer JD Sports’ JD Gyms brand were approved. Those plans also showed the ground floor would be used for retail with the largest area for the sports and fashion retailer which already occupies a unit opposite the former department store.
A statement submitted, by the shopping centre owners, as part of the process to obtain change of use planning permission, from retail, outlined large department stores are no longer attractive to retailers.
Despite permissions all being in place by the end of November 2023 progress on transforming the building has been seemingly slow, with scaffolding having remained for a considerable period.
That has since come down and a mustard yellow and black cladding has been attached to the upper floors of the building while hoarding, behind a metal security fence, obscures the ground floor.
Though work appears to be nearing completion there is as yet no confirmed opening date for the gym and the relocated JD Sports shop.
But it is expected the gym and the shop will open in late summer this year.
The building began life as David Evans Department Store in 1964, as Gwent Square and the Cwmbran Shopping Centre were developed, and it became part of House of Fraser in 1977.
