Mystery around future of Chesterfield’s Victoria Centre five years since closure

The shopping centre on Knifesmithgate closed for unknown reasons at the beginning of March 2017.

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According to Land Registry documents, a London-based company called Metropolitan Properties Company (FGC) Ltd owns the historic property.

The Derbyshire Times contacted the business asking if it had any plans for the building – but no comment was given.

When the property closed, Roy Knowles, owner of the Victoria Café inside the centre, told the Derbyshire Times: “A lot of my customers are very sad to lose this historic part of Chesterfield.”

According to Mr Knowles, the Victoria Centre opened in the 1920s.

Over the years, it housed a ballroom, cinema, billiard hall, bingo hall and shops.

The ballroom played host to well-known bands including Slade, the Who, the Kinks and Bill Haley and His Comets – and was a place where many hundreds of couples met and fell in love.

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