St John's Shopping Centre (Perth)

St John's Shopping Centre
	The King Edward Street main entrance and Perth mercat cross. Taken from in front of Perth City Hall
Location	Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland
Coordinates	56°23′46″N 3°25′52″W / 56.39605°N 3.43107°WCoordinates: 56°23′46″N 3°25′52″W / 56.39605°N 3.43107°W
Address	King Edward Street
Opening date	1988 (34 years ago)
Owner	Universities Superannuation Scheme (since 2011)
No. of stores and services	28
Total retail floor area	145,000 sq ft (13,471 m2)
No. of floors	3
Website	www.stjshopping.co.uk

St John's Shopping Centre is a shopping mall in Perth, Scotland. Situated between (and with entrances from) South Street (to the south), King Edward Street (to the east), Scott Street (to the west) and the pedestrianised section of High Street (to the north), it was built between 1985 and 1987. It cost around £20 million.^[2] Its main entrance is that facing the Category B listed Perth City Hall on King Edward Street, with Perth mercat cross standing between the two.^[2]

Its construction meant the ancient St John's Square was demolished, with its residents relocated elsewhere in the city.^[2]

The shopping centre was opened in March 1988 by Dr Willi Reiland (1933–2015),^[3] mayor for thirty years of Perth's twin town, Aschaffenburg, Germany.^[2]^[3]

The centre was once owned by Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster. It was purchased by the Universities Superannuation Scheme from BAE Systems Pension Funds in 2011.^[2]

Clock[]

When renovations were undertaken in 1997, the shopping centre's astronomical clock, which was part of the building at its 1988 opening and was a feature for many years thereafter, was moved to Perth Leisure Pool, where it was visible only from the top of the flume tower. It stopped working the following year, and was moved into storage. In 2019, there was a movement to bring the clock back. It features two characters who appear on the hour mark and tell the story of Sir Walter Scott's The Fair Maid of Perth.^[4]