In Pictures: The very first pictures of the completed St Enoch Centre in 1989 & 1990 as the shopping centre is scheduled for demolition

It was announced on Tuesday that the St Enoch Centre would be demolished to make way for an entirely new redevelopment.

The redevelopment has been carefully considered over the better half of a year - but it was announced Included in the development will be new streets, shops, offices, restaurants, hundreds of homes, a pub and a hotel, amongst other proposals.

Serviced apartments, a hostel, apart-hotel, car parking and public space are also part of the plans. The plan was described as “amazing” and “exciting” by councillors today who granted planning permission in principle.

The report said the proposal “will see a significant improvement in the townscape and open up a large city block previously enclosed. This will see the reinstatement of the Glasgow grid and through the creation of nine development plots provide an opportunity for high quality design.”

The demolition will take place in phases over the next 10 years - planning permission in principle was granted to applicants Sovereign Centros at the meeting on Tuesday morning, May 30, subject to conditions, such as minimising waste during demolition..

Work on the St Enoch Centre started in the mid-eighties. It would open its doors to the public in 1989, before being officially opened by then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, the following year.

It has seen big changes since then – multiple refurbishments, big departures (including the huge BHS store) and exciting arrivals - including the new cinema complex which only finished construction last year.

Built on the site of the St Enoch railway station - St Enoch replaced the old railway station and St Enoch hotel which were demolished in 1977 to make way for the new development plans.

Costing £46 million, the 260 metre long building comprised a two-level shopping centre with seven levels of parking for 750 cards and 280,000 square feet of retail space (more than four full size football pitches).

The massive glass canopy of St Enochs centre made it the largest glass-topped enclosed space in Europe.

The original plans weren’t for a shopping centre however, the site was originally acquired by the Scottish Development Agency to assist in the relocation of civil service jobs from London - those plans never came to be however, and the St Enoch Centre swooped in and took the site, after a decade of being used as a car park.

Back in the day, St Enoch Centre even had an ice rink - which proved hugely popular with young Glaswegians (5000 skaters a day at its peak!) prior to its closure in June of 1995.

The Disney Store was also a must-visit for just about every family in Glasgow - once a year at least.

Now as the 34-year-old centre enters its final era, we look back at the first days of the centre being open. Travel back in time to 1989 with us as we look at the very beginnings of Glasgow’s original shopping centre.