Abandoned shopping centre shut down 17 years ago still remains a ghost town
An abandoned shopping centre still lies eerily empty and totally derelict 17 years after it was shut down for good, with no signs of any change.
Currently, the site is boarded up and partly overgrown, looking like a post-apocalyptic ghost town, which was useful when the BBC filmed 2015 reality game show I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse. The eight episodes of the BBC3 series saw contestants try to survive for seven days in an abandoned shopping centre overrun by the undead.
However, when the Five Sisters Freeport Shopping Village opened 25 years ago in 1996, it was a hotspot for designer clothes, with over 40 stores. It waslocated just off the M8, between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
For most people in central Scotland, the shopping outlet was within travel distance. The retail village was open from 10am all seven days of the week, and included top brands on offer such as Versace, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Rockport, and Levi's.
The creepy town has no future plans to turn back into its former glory (SUPPLIED)Not only that, but the outlet was complete with a Leisureland facility, offering go-karts, and soft play. There were also cafes and restaurants so shoppers were never left hungry, according to EdinburghLive.
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One year after the scheme opened, with over a million visitors recorded, everything seemed perfect as bosses at Freeport Leisure decided they wanted to extend the premises.
A planning application was sent off to West Lothian Council for an £18million upgrade to the leisure facilities, including a snow centre with ski slopes, toboggan runs, snowboarding, and a children’s winter wonderland. A new golf course and putting range were also proposed.
The decline in popularity left the once glamourous shopping centre now abandoned (SUPPLIED)But none of that ever materialised as the fortunes of the Freeport began to shift rapidly after the Livingston Designer Outlet opened in October 2000. Customers began to turn away in their droves, and tenants also relocated their stores to Livingston.
The decline was terrifyingly fast and unstoppable - within just one year in 2001, most of the shops had shut, and the few that remained were offering clearance sales and preparing to leave.
By 2004, Freeport Leisure decided it was time to close the centre down for good and pulled the plug on the entire site.
Chairman of Freeport Sean Collidge admitted at the time that the Livingston outlet opening nearby was their downfall.
There are currently no plans for redevelopment (SUPPLIED)He said: “This scheme was 100 per cent let when it opened in 1996 and had four tremendous years. Then retail in Scotland became overpopulated in the central belt.”
West Lothian Council has rejected plans to create housing in the area but says in its Local Plan that it's keen to see it redeveloped.
A council spokesperson said: "The redevelopment, or re-use, of Westwood (Freeport), near West Calder, previously operating as a factory outlet centre, is supported by the council.
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