Manchester Evening News readers found three out of four people 'hated' the gardens , listing a string of gripes about the wall, crime levels and general dreariness.
Two years later more than 20,000 people signed an M.E.N. petition calling on the council to demolish the 'hated' wall and restore the gardens to their '1950s splendour'.
In an editorial piece at the time the paper wrote: "For years Mancunians have despaired of the crime and concrete that still dominate the city’s main public space - despite the town hall repeatedly pledging to sort it out." Work to knock down the free-standing section of the wall, which was recently daubed with graffiti reading 'The North is not a petri dish' in response to the government’s approach to.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk