For readers of a certain age, it probably won’t feel like 32 years since the Victoria Shopping Centre in Harrogate first opened its doors, but – amazingly – it is.

Almost as if planned to coincide with the anniversary of its launch in November 1992, I recently discovered an album of photos, taken by my father, which record the building’s construction. My late dad loved before-and-afters – we had them for pretty much every redecorated room in our house – and while I’ll spare you the kitchen and bathroom pictures, the ones that follow might bring back some memories.

Victoria Shopping Centre replaced the 1930s Market Hall (above), which had greengrocers, butchers, hardware shops and haberdashers, and hummed with the sounds of trade. It had character in spades, and many mourned its passing when it was demolished.

Others, though, were glad to see the back of what they saw as a shabby relic of a bygone era, and felt the £50m shopping centre was exactly what Harrogate needed.

The divide in opinion was not quelled by the publication of the new centre’s design. Some loved it, and recognised what the architects, Cullearn & Phillips, had intended: a classical temple to commerce, inspired by Palladio’s 16th-century Basilica in Vicenza. The hoardings surrounding the building site promised “timeless elegance” and “retail excellence”. The chairman of developer Speyhawk hailed it as “the most beautiful shopping centre in England”.

Others hated it. Bestselling US author Bill Bryson wrote in his book Notes from a Small Island that it was “heartbreakingly awful, the worst kind of pastiche architecture – a sort of Bath Crescent meets Crystal Palace with a roof by B&Q”.

During construction, the market traders were accommodated in a large temporary hangar of a building covering Victoria Gardens (above), but once the centre was opened, they moved into the basement, while the ground and upper floors were reserved for shops.

But through the 1990s, disillusioned traders moved out one by one, and the understorey was converted into a single unit, now occupied by Sports Direct. The fountains on the Station Parade side were removed and the tiered stone seating area leading down to the basement doors was filled in. The open arcade walkways were also blocked off, bringing that space indoors.

Ironically, one of the most disliked features of the design, the figures perched along the top, remain, looking, according to Bryson, “as if two dozen citizens of various ages are about to commit mass suicide”.

Now battling for customers in the age of internet shopping, Victoria Shopping Centre appears to have turned a financial corner in recent years – last month, we reported the news that its valuation has started to climb again after years of decline.

Its value peaked in 2011-12 at £4.8 million, but by 2020-21 had plummeted to just £925,000, where its fortunes bottomed out. Since then, it has grown more valuable each year, and this year was valued at £1,955,000.

But if you’re tempted to put in an offer, don’t hold your breath – the freehold, which is now owned by North Yorkshire Council, is not currently for sale.

How the next 32 years will affect one of Harrogate’s most prominent sites is anyone’s guess, but it will be interesting to compare it then with how it is now. Perhaps someone should take some more pictures now, for the before-and-afters of 2056.