{"id":405081,"date":"2025-09-07T11:13:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T11:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/405081\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T11:13:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T11:13:28","slug":"a-little-piece-of-new-york-in-manchester-has-become-a-sad-grey-ghost-of-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/405081\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A little piece of New York in Manchester has become a sad, grey ghost of the past’"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a \u2018remodelling\u2019 project, the council and Network Rail have a chance to capture the nostalgia of the Cornerhouse, the Tatler cinema and the Art Deco charm of the station and build on it. Beth Abbit argues it’s an opportunity that should not be missed.\"Beth<\/p>\n

Beth edits The Mancunian Way newsletter – a daily digest of news, views and opinions about our great city-region. She has worked for many years as a senior reporter covering live news, court, features and investigations and started as a patch reporter for south Manchester, where she grew up.<\/p>\n

Grafitti on the walls of the former Cornerhouse(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

An overwhelming sense of nostalgia washed over me when I scaled the 55 steps from the cobbled street outside The Salisbury up to Oxford Road station this week.<\/p>\n

It will forever hold memories of racing from the bus to the train during holidays, suitcase in hand, the whole summer ahead of me.<\/p>\n

The alternative is to scale the steep, curved Station Approach which always felt a bit like free climbing El Capitan.<\/p>\n

The view from the top of Oxford Road station(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

But whichever slightly sweaty route you chose, the reward was the same. A good view of Manchester from the wonderful, wood-panelled station entrance.<\/p>\n

Get news, views and analysis of the biggest stories with the daily Mancunian Way newsletter – sign up <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Little has changed since the Grade-II listed station was last revamped back in 1960.<\/p>\n

It still sits atop the hill like some great Art Deco fortress, it still smells the same and you still need your big coat on the wind tunnel platforms – even in summer.<\/p>\n

Oxford Road station(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

But at some point soon, it will all look very different.<\/p>\n

The powers that be have grand plans to transform the station as well as the former Cornerhouse and Screen One buildings – all of which sit on a prominent corner of Oxford Road and Whitworth Street West.<\/p>\n

The station is due for a major overhaul, which could see a tower crane plonked on the site of the former Screen One aka The Tatler Cinema.<\/p>\n

The former Screen One building on Whitworth Street West(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

The fate of the Cornerhouse building which housed the bar, art gallery and shop is as yet unknown. But Manchester Council, which owns it, says it wants to create \u201can entryway to Manchester city centre that we can all feel proud of\u201d.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hope so. Because what we\u2019ve currently got in that very prominent space is a shabby building covered in graffiti; a large area of scaffolding and a dilapidated cinema block.<\/p>\n

As one councillor told me: \u201cIt\u2019s a bad advert for Manchester.\u201d<\/p>\n

Station Approach at Oxford Road station(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually quite sad to see this once vibrant little corner of the city centre looking so glum.<\/p>\n

Walk a few hundred yards to the east and you\u2019ll find students bustling around the new pristine, if slightly sterile, Circle Square.<\/p>\n

Cross Oxford Road and you\u2019ll find the lovely flower-laden facade of The Kimpton Hotel and Refuge.<\/p>\n

And within spitting distance, there\u2019s the grandeur of The Palace – a cultural highlight here in Manchester.<\/p>\n

Over the summer, efforts were made to spruce up the walls of Screen One with a colourful and charming mural. HOME and Network Rail – both responsible for that flourish – say it will remain in place for two years. A good start at least.<\/p>\n

The new mural on the Screen One facade(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s been a decade since the Cornerhouse closed its doors for good and it sits there like some sad, grey ghost of the past.<\/p>\n

It was bad enough when Jilly\u2019s Rockworld was closed down<\/a> and turned into a Tesco. When the Cornerhouse closed, it was like someone had taken a wrecking ball to the venues of the 90s.<\/p>\n