IT WAS, to some people, the Westgate Bubble; to others, the Golf Ball.

Whatever you called it, it became an iconic piece of modern Oxford architecture.

The glass-covered spherical object looking out over St Ebbe’s housed the computer equipment which controlled the now-doomed multi-storey car park in the Westgate Centre.

It contained closed circuit television and a communications system so that staff sitting in the dome could monitor car movements and speak to any motorist in difficulty.

Another feature was a reinforced concrete chute that was used to transfer the car park’s takings to security officers below.

The city council faced criticism when shops in the centre opened in the early 1970s before the car park was completed.

Oxford Mail:

 Lord Mayor Olive Gibbs inspects the equipment inside the golf ball when she officially opened the car park in 1974

But when the Lord Mayor, Councillor Olive Gibbs, officially opened the car park in 1974, she congratulated everyone on completing it in 16 months.

Unveiling an inscribed stone, she said: “In my view, it is a very fine building indeed.

“Both in design and execution, it lives up to the standard we set ourselves in the need to preserve the special character of the city and its skyline.”

Mrs Gibbs said she was aware that many people criticised the city council’s transport policy and thought the council was trying to keep shoppers out of Oxford.

She said: “Nothing could be further from the truth and I hope that the opening of this car park with its 1,000 spaces will be proof of our intention to make parking easier for shoppers.”

Praising city officials and the contractors, Ernest Ireland, she said it was unbelievable how quickly the car park had been finished.

A specialist local authority magazine in 1974 described the design of the car park’s control centre as “one of its most fascinating architectural features”. It added: “It is built like a giant golf ball or spherical satellite. The sphere, which is based on a truncated icosahedron, is aluminium-framed and glazed with dark tinted laminated glass.”

Now, 40 years later, the golf ball has gone and the car park is being demolished to make way for £440 million redevelopment of the Westgate centre.

The scheme, which will include 100 shops, a five-screen cinema and 25 cafes and restaurants, is due to be completed in autumn 2017.

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