The Centre, Livingston has unveiled plans to mark its 50th anniversary this year, which includes a time capsule ceremony with local primary school pupils, the launch of a ‘blether bench’ to encourage visitors to share their memories and an event with Go Radio presenter Gina McKie, who’ll be giving away 50 Gift Cards, worth £2k.
The time capsule ceremony follows a project which the shopping centre has been working on with P7 pupils in nine local primary schools who were invited to create a contribution that reflects their experiences of life today and their sense of community and hopes for the future.
Formats include artwork, books and letters, which will be lowered into the ground at a private event attended by pupil representatives from each school and the management team, who will be adding a staff photobook and shopping centre map.
To encourage people to take some time out and enjoy a chat or reminisce about years gone by, a ‘blether bench’ will be located next to Primark with a QR code which links to The Centre, Livingston website to find out more about the 50th anniversary and how to share their stories. Additionally, the ‘Through the Ages’ timeline, which was installed in 2023 to showcase the history of the shopping centre, will also be refreshed and updated, and three scale models will be on display for shoppers to get an insight into how it’s evolved over the years.
The ’50 for 50’ event, hosted by Go Radio presenter Gina McKie, will take place on Saturday, 30th May, from 1 – 4pm, next to Pandora, where she’ll be giving shoppers the chance to take part in a Plinko competition to be in with a chance of winning a shopping centre Gift Card, with denominations ranging from £10 to £500.
There will also be free face painting on the day, located next to Build-A-Bear.
Donations are optional for The Centre, Livingston charity partner, Firefly Arts, who will be hosting a pop-up in the shopping centre on Sunday, 31st May and 14th June, with mini workshops to help raise awareness of the work they do with young people to help build confidence and life skills through the arts.
The shopping centre, which has a wide mix of over 150 stores and restaurants spanning over 1m sq. ft and welcomes 15.4m visitors a year, has seen many changes over the past five decades, dating back to the opening of Woolco in 1976, when it was known as Almondvale Shopping Centre.
These include a refurbishment project in 1988 and two extensions, one in 1995 and the other in 2008, when the M&S flagship store opened and the shopping centre was rebranded as The Centre, Livingston.
Since acquiring the shopping centre in 2024, the owners, LCP UK, part of M Core, one of Europe’s leading privately owned commercial property development and management companies, has continued to make ongoing improvements, including the investment of £5m in new flooring, lighting and energy-efficient roofing.
This has resulted in the arrival of many global brands, including Wingstop, Starbucks, Sostrene Grene, MINISO, Flying Tiger and the opening of Hollywood Bowl later this year.
Patrick Robbertze, Centre Director at The Centre, Livingston, said: “This year is a very exciting time for The Centre, Livingston as we celebrate 50 years of being at the heart of the community and also branch into the leisure sector with the opening of Hollywood Bowl, which is a great way to mark our special milestone.
“We have lots of exciting plans to celebrate the occasion, including our time capsule ceremony with local primary schools, the launch of our ‘blether bench’ to encourage people to share their memories with us and our Gift Card giveaway event, which will give us the opportunity to thank our visitors for being part of our incredible journey over the past five decades.”
Simon Eatough, Director at LCP UK, part of M Core and Asset Manager of The Centre, Livingston, said: “Celebrating 50 years in the community is such a major milestone for us, especially as it ties in perfectly with our move into the leisure sector with the opening of Hollywood Bowl.
“Our aim is to focus on attracting more global brands through continued investment, with major announcements coming soon.”
