Council's plan for Bradford's mirror pool pavilion (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

What a place to have pound shop or a bookies.

I would like to see a mobile phone shop take over the premises. Or maybe a ticket office for many of Bradford's entertainment centres. Whoever takes it over though ought to get it checked for legionella - a lot of water round there you know.

What he really means is that they have struggled to let it!!

Get rid of the unsightly round newsagents in front of City Hall and put newsagent in this new development.

Let's put the council in and we can pay to gawp.

Another Payday loan shop on the cards?

Joedavid wrote:
Get rid of the unsightly round newsagents in front of City Hall and put newsagent in this new development.

Here, here. Good idea.

vikksy wrote:
Let's put the council in and we can pay to gawp.

Like Victorian times, go and pay tuppence to watch the lunatics.

We'll have to take your word for it! ;-)

TirNaNog wrote:
We'll have to take your word for it! ;-)

Pay to View Insanity
The new Bethlem was a place for display, set in gardens and modelled on the Tuileries, the palace of the French King. This is the Bethlem where the lunatics were displayed to visitors for a fee (until 1770). Londoner's on holiday could visit the zoo animals at the Tower of London and then stroll up to Moorfields to see the humans. Thomas Tryon complained in 1695 about the public being admitted on holy-days:
Sorry! It was actually pre-Victorian.

Isn't this story essentially 'Council to use building for the purpose it was built for'?

Loan shop, yayyyy!

tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

And the pool is simply using existing drainage systems - some of the most complex in the country.

What's new ?

johnhem wrote:
tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

A cafe would be nice, selling good coffee and tea - not a Costa/Starbucks/Nero - but something like the Java that used to be in the block opposite the Alhambra (which is now demolished, well fancy that!)

mrs walker wrote:

johnhem wrote:
tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

A cafe would be nice, selling good coffee and tea - not a Costa/Starbucks/Nero - but something like the Java that used to be in the block opposite the Alhambra (which is now demolished, well fancy that!)

Either of those would be good. It doesn't have to be for main stream retail, rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre.

"...rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre."
Thought the City Park and its fountains meant to do that.

Joedavid wrote:
"...rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre."
Thought the City Park and its fountains meant to do that.

I think the centre of Bradford is going to need all the help it can get to attract visitors.........

BD16 wrote:

mrs walker wrote:

johnhem wrote:
tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

A cafe would be nice, selling good coffee and tea - not a Costa/Starbucks/Nero - but something like the Java that used to be in the block opposite the Alhambra (which is now demolished, well fancy that!)

Either of those would be good. It doesn't have to be for main stream retail, rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre.

ok bd16, combine the two and have the cafe run by staff that know about the things tourists want. staff maybe even trained about the area and able to give REAL advice and info and not just there to dole out leaflets. don't make the mistake of putting another "name" in there like costa or nando's. i'd rather see a greasy spoon there than those two. a proper cafe, or even no cafe as such, just good coffee/tea at proper and sensible prices to drink while checking over the leaflets there and getting info from the staff on what takes their fancy.
staff that can tell tourists which bus to catch, roughly the price and how long it takes and how far it is, what to look for on the way.
you don't have to have "designer" caff's, good well trained/well informed staff, serving cuppa's.

johnhem wrote:

BD16 wrote:

mrs walker wrote:

johnhem wrote:
tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

A cafe would be nice, selling good coffee and tea - not a Costa/Starbucks/Nero - but something like the Java that used to be in the block opposite the Alhambra (which is now demolished, well fancy that!)

Either of those would be good. It doesn't have to be for main stream retail, rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre.

ok bd16, combine the two and have the cafe run by staff that know about the things tourists want. staff maybe even trained about the area and able to give REAL advice and info and not just there to dole out leaflets. don't make the mistake of putting another "name" in there like costa or nando's. i'd rather see a greasy spoon there than those two. a proper cafe, or even no cafe as such, just good coffee/tea at proper and sensible prices to drink while checking over the leaflets there and getting info from the staff on what takes their fancy.
staff that can tell tourists which bus to catch, roughly the price and how long it takes and how far it is, what to look for on the way.
you don't have to have "designer" caff's, good well trained/well informed staff, serving cuppa's.

How about an Amsterdam style coffee shop? Or do you still believe the war on drugs is winnable and the money well spent? But we wouldn't want people enjoying a smoke and annoying the alcoholics would we?

RollandSmoke wrote:

johnhem wrote:

BD16 wrote:

mrs walker wrote:

johnhem wrote:
tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

A cafe would be nice, selling good coffee and tea - not a Costa/Starbucks/Nero - but something like the Java that used to be in the block opposite the Alhambra (which is now demolished, well fancy that!)

Either of those would be good. It doesn't have to be for main stream retail, rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre.

ok bd16, combine the two and have the cafe run by staff that know about the things tourists want. staff maybe even trained about the area and able to give REAL advice and info and not just there to dole out leaflets. don't make the mistake of putting another "name" in there like costa or nando's. i'd rather see a greasy spoon there than those two. a proper cafe, or even no cafe as such, just good coffee/tea at proper and sensible prices to drink while checking over the leaflets there and getting info from the staff on what takes their fancy.
staff that can tell tourists which bus to catch, roughly the price and how long it takes and how far it is, what to look for on the way.
you don't have to have "designer" caff's, good well trained/well informed staff, serving cuppa's.

How about an Amsterdam style coffee shop? Or do you still believe the war on drugs is winnable and the money well spent? But we wouldn't want people enjoying a smoke and annoying the alcoholics would we?

It would be illegal whether everyone would like it or not, irrespective of whether the war on drugs is winnable.

RollandSmoke wrote:

johnhem wrote:

BD16 wrote:

mrs walker wrote:

johnhem wrote: tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

A cafe would be nice, selling good coffee and tea - not a Costa/Starbucks/Nero - but something like the Java that used to be in the block opposite the Alhambra (which is now demolished, well fancy that!)

Either of those would be good. It doesn't have to be for main stream retail, rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre.

ok bd16, combine the two and have the cafe run by staff that know about the things tourists want. staff maybe even trained about the area and able to give REAL advice and info and not just there to dole out leaflets. don't make the mistake of putting another "name" in there like costa or nando's. i'd rather see a greasy spoon there than those two. a proper cafe, or even no cafe as such, just good coffee/tea at proper and sensible prices to drink while checking over the leaflets there and getting info from the staff on what takes their fancy. staff that can tell tourists which bus to catch, roughly the price and how long it takes and how far it is, what to look for on the way. you don't have to have "designer" caff's, good well trained/well informed staff, serving cuppa's.

How about an Amsterdam style coffee shop? Or do you still believe the war on drugs is winnable and the money well spent? But we wouldn't want people enjoying a smoke and annoying the alcoholics would we?

The war on drugs is long lost but there's a difference between knowing that and letting folk smoke a joint in a public place. Aren't they cutting back on this sort of thing in Amsterdam anyway?

Albion. wrote:

RollandSmoke wrote:

johnhem wrote:

BD16 wrote:

mrs walker wrote:

johnhem wrote:
tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

A cafe would be nice, selling good coffee and tea - not a Costa/Starbucks/Nero - but something like the Java that used to be in the block opposite the Alhambra (which is now demolished, well fancy that!)

Either of those would be good. It doesn't have to be for main stream retail, rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre.

ok bd16, combine the two and have the cafe run by staff that know about the things tourists want. staff maybe even trained about the area and able to give REAL advice and info and not just there to dole out leaflets. don't make the mistake of putting another "name" in there like costa or nando's. i'd rather see a greasy spoon there than those two. a proper cafe, or even no cafe as such, just good coffee/tea at proper and sensible prices to drink while checking over the leaflets there and getting info from the staff on what takes their fancy.
staff that can tell tourists which bus to catch, roughly the price and how long it takes and how far it is, what to look for on the way.
you don't have to have "designer" caff's, good well trained/well informed staff, serving cuppa's.

How about an Amsterdam style coffee shop? Or do you still believe the war on drugs is winnable and the money well spent? But we wouldn't want people enjoying a smoke and annoying the alcoholics would we?

It would be illegal whether everyone would like it or not, irrespective of whether the war on drugs is winnable.

Not only is the war un-winnable, it's not logical and in the case of cannabis it's unjustifiable. Unless it is justified we cannot call the law justice. The law has to be changed and Bradford could be pioneering the new business that would spring up. If we had a licensed outlet and dispensary in the city center it would not only bring people into the town center but due to having a legally regulated supply chain we would be able to reduce the profit margins for dealers making their continued existence not worth the effort. What we are doing now isn't working and the Pavilion gives us the opportunity to try a different approach in an easily monitored and policed area. We cannot afford to keep putting people through the legal system and criminalizing them due to nothing more than prejudice and ignorance.

BD16 wrote:

RollandSmoke wrote:

johnhem wrote:

BD16 wrote:

mrs walker wrote:

johnhem wrote: tourist information centre. right in the one place it could do some good, like bringing people to one "attraction" so they can find out about the others.

A cafe would be nice, selling good coffee and tea - not a Costa/Starbucks/Nero - but something like the Java that used to be in the block opposite the Alhambra (which is now demolished, well fancy that!)

Either of those would be good. It doesn't have to be for main stream retail, rather somewhere that would encourage people to visit the city centre.

ok bd16, combine the two and have the cafe run by staff that know about the things tourists want. staff maybe even trained about the area and able to give REAL advice and info and not just there to dole out leaflets. don't make the mistake of putting another "name" in there like costa or nando's. i'd rather see a greasy spoon there than those two. a proper cafe, or even no cafe as such, just good coffee/tea at proper and sensible prices to drink while checking over the leaflets there and getting info from the staff on what takes their fancy. staff that can tell tourists which bus to catch, roughly the price and how long it takes and how far it is, what to look for on the way. you don't have to have "designer" caff's, good well trained/well informed staff, serving cuppa's.

How about an Amsterdam style coffee shop? Or do you still believe the war on drugs is winnable and the money well spent? But we wouldn't want people enjoying a smoke and annoying the alcoholics would we?

The war on drugs is long lost but there's a difference between knowing that and letting folk smoke a joint in a public place. Aren't they cutting back on this sort of thing in Amsterdam anyway?

Hasn't keeping things hidden behind closed doors contributed to the problems we face today? We would never suggest that Witherspoons should be forced to shut their beer garden or that smokers should be made to hide around corners when lighting up. Amsterdam have succeeded in reducing drug use across the board due to taking away the mystique and making cannabis use seem everyday and boring. They do however have a problem with tourists who go due to wanting to experience the freedoms offered and it is this that they are cracking down on.