The demolition of Newport Centre is set to begin in the coming months amid plans to replace it with a learning campus. Newport Centre has been a familiar site in the city's skyline, having hosted hundreds of concerts as well as gym, swimming and exhibition facilities over the years.
First opened in 1985, the centre has hosted major gigs by the likes of David Bowie, Run DMC and Alice Cooper but has fallen into disrepair in recent years. Last year its swimming pool was forced to close permanently after Newport City Council deemed it beyond repair. Other leisure services such as gym classes have been ongoing at the centre in the meantime.
Planning permission for the demolition of the 37-year-old Newport Centre was granted in October and plans are ongoing for a new £90m campus which will see Coleg Gwent relocated from its existing campus in Nash Road. the proposal forms part of the council's plans for the Newport Knowledge Quarter (NKQ) joining the University of South Wales campus and the seven-storey campus will also include shops, restaurants, offices, and a hotel. Coleg Gwent previously told WalesOnline it hoped the plans would bring more than 2,000 staff and students into the city.
