Quiggins
Coordinates: 53°24′16″N 2°59′04″W / 53.4045°N 2.9844°W
Quiggins was an indoor market within Liverpool city centre in 2006. The market, which was home to many small 'alternative' stores, was located in adjacent three warehouse buildings on a site between School Lane, Peters Lane and College Lane. The main entrance was through the 1866 Palatine Building. Although Quiggins markets existed at several locations within Liverpool, these premises were the most well-known in the city.
The market closed in 2006. The area was subsequently redeveloped as part of a massive development of Liverpool City Centre by the Grosvenor Group.
The business's first location was on Renshaw Street which opened in 1986, where it adopted the name of the long established architectural ironmongers which had formerly owned the premises and whose sign still adorned the shop front. Originally established as an antiques business, it outgrew the building and in 1988 moved to a larger location on School Lane. With parts of the building rented out to other antique traders, it later diversified into providing space for specialist and alternative stores where many of the stall holders were local artists and craftsmen. There Quiggins soon became a significant part of Liverpool's cultural scene. Next to the Bluecoat Centre and only two blocks from the busiest pedestrian traffic on Merseyside, it was seen as an ideal place to trade and congregate.
It was also the home of "Fraggle Radio", an internet based station streaming rock and punk music founded by Dave Carter, and the popular Brook Café provided a late night venue for live alternative music.
As part of its Capital of Culture bid, Liverpool City Council drew up the Bluecoat Triangle plan, later to become the Paradise Street Development Scheme, to boost the retail and cultural areas in the city centre, one aspect of which was the proposed acquisition of the building containing Quiggins Centre. Many local residents and businesses lodged objections to these proposals and a well-publicised four-year public relations and political campaign was launched against the plans spearheaded by Peter Tierney, (co-owner & founder) and his supporters. These included a protest march, a petition with over a hundred and fifty thousand signatures presented to Parliament, letter writing and media events, etc.
...
Wikipedia