End of an era in East Belfast as Connswater Centre closes after more than 40 years serving community

Beloved by the community since it opened in the early 1980s, in recent years it has become an important social point and home to a host of voluntary and arts groups.

As much as a hub for local people, especially the elderly, to meet as a retail core, its closure leaves heavily residential East Belfast bereft of a major shopping area with well-known brand names – something that one of its tenants described as turning the area into a de facto dormitory town, where people have to travel away to spend.

It could also mean the temporary departure of another East Belfast icon, the Strand Cinema. It’s been running a pop-up picture palace in Connswater while its proper home is extensively remodelled, but the people behind it say they may have to move out of the area to find a replacement stopgap venue.

Connswater’s surprise closure, which came at just a fortnight’s notice after it went into administration, saw the shopping centre a little busier than usual on its final day, with plenty of people there to pay a bittersweet final visit or to hunt down a last few bargains.

Several clothes shops were offering hefty discounts, but with no more stock coming in shelves were already emptying before lunch in big brands such as Poundworld, Boots and Holland & Barrett.

Among those shoppers bidding a tearful farewell were locals Rae Sloan and Hazel Malcolm, both of whom have been coming to Connswater for the past 42 years and say they’re devastated by the closure.

"Absolutely, we’re just gutted,” Rae told the News Letter. “We’ve been coming here from it opened; I used to come down on a Saturday when my kids were younger, we’d go to Pickwick’s.

"It’s part of people’s lives, it’s been a hub for East Belfast. It has been going down for a while, but we were hoping somebody would buy it over. A lot of shops have left, but we’d still come down and have lunch.”

The pair admit they don’t know what they’re going to do without Connswater, with Hazel saying: “It’ll make a big difference where I live; I’m within walking distance, and everyone there is devastated. You could just open your door and walk down – but there we are, that’s life.”

Large stores in Connswater’s wider retail park are staying, but for Rae and Hazel the closure of the main indoor shopping centre is a major loss. “It won’t be the same,” said Rae.

"I couldn’t believe it when I heard [about the closure] on the radio two weeks ago – it’s been very sudden. We’ve been to have a coffee, we’re down just to have a last look.”

The decline of bricks and mortar retail in the face of online competition has hit high streets and shopping centres alike, but Connswater appeared to rally as a host of community groups and arts organisations opened in the centre’s units – among them the vibrant East Belfast Wise Men’s Sheds, which moved in seven years ago.

A popular meeting area and help space for men facing social isolation, especially in old age, the men’s shed will survive as it’s managed to find temporary accommodation in a nearby church. But as the wise men met for a few last games and a chat in Connswater, committee member Ian Carr said they’d be sad to see a shopping centre that has become the beating heart of East Belfast community groups go.

"There’s a lot of people who are maybe elderly, or have lost their wives, or live alone, or for whatever reason have nowhere to go when they waken in the mornings; we provide that outlet for them to communicate and get involved,” he stated.

"It’s worked really well, you can hear the buzz when you come in through our doors, and all of a sudden that’s just locked off. It’s a shame.

"We were open 10am til noon, Monday, Wednesday and Friday; I’m letting guys in at 9.45am, and trying to chase them out at half past one. But we don’t mind; we don’t know what the next guy is going through, this could be his little haven for a few hours, three days a week.”

Ian adds that the members were shocked when the closure notice popped through their door two weeks ago, but have now moved on to acceptance.

"It took them a while to get over it,” he said, "but my father once said to me, ‘it’s not what happens, it’s what you do about it’ and he was right. Rather than sit on our haunches and mope, we started having discussions. But it will be a wrench to lose this place.”

Jonathan McAlpin, chief executive of East Belfast Enterprise, said the closure is “a devastating blow” to the area.

"Micro and small businesses are the backbone of East Belfast’s economy, and they now face an urgent need for affordable office and retail space to continue operating,” he said.

Mr McAlpin also added that the Executive needs to “create an opportunity at Connswater for new businesses to start”.