the cinema inside was notable in the fact that other than the removal of the seating, it remained unchanged since closing, with original operating manuals and film posters in place and was admired by fans of 1960s and 1970s culture.

One of the nightclubs within The Merrion Centre was the "Bar Phono" (originally known as Le Phonographique), widely reputed to be the birthplace of the Gothic subculture.

[citation needed] The centre features one of two examples of Rowland Emett's kinetic sculptures, "The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basketweave Mark Two Gentleman’s Flying Machine", and other several other Centre-owned artworks by the artist are periodically displayed in the main thoroughfare.

When opened in 1964, the Yorkshire Evening Post said the centre emulated what every successful large town and city wanted to build.

New tenants had moved in such as a new Sainsbury's Local, and the centre's Morrisons supermarket has been rebranded to fit the company's new corporate image, with major extension and refurbishment inside.

The Merrion Centre had a pedestrian subway which linked it to the Woodhouse Lane Car Park, Millennium Square and Leeds Beckett University.

This was closed in 2000, and as of September 2017 the open air subway section has been filled in with compacted rubble as part of the centre redevelopment scheme.

The Fab Cafe, a cult TV and movie themed bar always popular with students, occupied a spot on Woodhouse Lane at the north-west corner of the Merrion Centre from 1998 to 2015.