2012

SE1632 : The Mirror Pool at sunset

taken 12 years ago, near to Bradford, England

The Mirror Pool at sunset
The Mirror Pool at sunset
Looking across the centrepiece of Bradford's City Park towards the Alhambra Theatre and the disused Odeon cinema, now shrouded in scaffolding.
Bradford City Park

Bradford City Park is a public space in the centre of Bradford, West Yorkshire. It is centred around the Grade I listed Bradford City Hall. The city park comprises three main areas (each side of the triangular City Hall site.) To the East of the City Hall is the Norfolk Gardens area. As part of the renovations to City Park an underused concrete footbridge was removed and a new bus canopy was installed. In front of City Hall is Centenary Square. This area was extensively landscaped and now comprises raised lawns, seating and a large area of stone sets. This area is used for exhibition space and market stalls during the European markets. The North-Western corner of the park is the mirror pool and its surrounds. Construction of this section begun in 2011 and was officially opened on 24 March 2012 with an all-day celebratory event featuring Parkour, fireworks, balloons and other attractions

The city park was part of the 'masterplan' for Bradford city centre, a regeneration project first begun in 2003. Several revisions were made to the original plans. Funding was announced by the council in July 2009 and work was begun in December 2009.

In 2012, City Park was awarded the title of best Place in the UK and Ireland by The Academy of Urbanism

Centenary Square.

Centenary square contains a leisure facility comprising bars, restaurants and a coffee shop. It has a large amount of outdoor seating which gives unrivalled views of the City Hall and mirror pool. The Bradford 1 art gallery and Impressions gallery are also part of the Centenary Square development.

Mirror Pool and Pavilion.

The mirror pool contains the highest fountain in any UK city, shooting water up to 100 ft (30m) into the air. In addition there are more than 100 smaller fountains, laser light projectors and loud speakers.

Mirror pool walkway.

Through the middle of the mirror pool is a slightly raised Y-shaped walkway which allows visitors to pass over the pool in relative dryness. Access to the water is encouraged and there are 40 low-powered play fountains at the pavilion end of the pool.

Each morning the fountain produces a mist effect before the pool fills. At dusk a light show begins and continues until the pool is drained overnight.
Construction of the Mirror Pool

The water features in the mirror pool were commissioned by Birse Civil Engineering. Water in the pool is in part supplied from a 240m deep borehole. The capacity of the pool is about 600,000L and will be about 25 cm deep at the deepest parts.

Text from Wikipedia: LinkExternal link

Bradford Odeon, Prince’s Way (former New Victoria Theatre)

This well known and loved Bradford landmark opened on 22nd September 1930. Originally named the New Victoria Theatre, it was built on the site of a former brewery, and boasted a 3,318 seat auditorium, along with a ballroom and a 200 seat restaurant. The building was design by local architect William Illingworth. The name was changed to the Gaumont in September 1950. The Gaumont closed in 1968. The complex re-opened in 1969 as the Odeon Film Centre, following division of the main auditorium into two cinemas and a bingo hall. A third cinema screen was added in the 1980s in the former ballroom. The bingo hall closed in 1997, the three cinemas following in 2000. Proposals have been put forward to demolish the building and replace it with a mixed use development named New Victoria Place. As of September 2011 the building was still standing, though unoccupied and decaying.

Since closure in 2000 the site has been frequently visited by Urbexers (web search for urbex bradford odeon for photographs of the interior).
Sources:
Archive LinkExternal link
Archive LinkExternal link


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Phil Champion and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Bradford City [216] · Park [168] · City Park [99] · Looking [61] · Mirror Pool in City Park [24] ·
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SE1632, 988 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Phil Champion   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 13 October, 2012   (more nearby)
Submitted
Sunday, 3 March, 2013
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SE 1626 3292 [10m precision]
WGS84: 53:47.5405N 1:45.2795W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SE 16281 32941
View Direction
Southwest (about 225 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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