Cultural hub opens in former Debenhams building

A former Debenham's store has been given a new lease of life as a cultural hub.

The ground floor of the store in Bedford, which closed in May 2021, is now a visitor information centre, gift shop and box office for the town's Corn Exchange, marking the first phase of the site's redevelopment.

Bedford Borough Council bought the space last year and Conservative mayor Tom Wootton said it was "vital that Bedford had something at the heart of it" after it had "sat empty for so long".

He added that he hoped that the authority would have a developer on board for the rest of the site by the autumn, and that plans for it would be seen by the New Year.

The authority was the preferred bidder for the site - known as Mayes Yard - spending about £1.8m to purchase it in 2024.

It said the move marked "another positive step in Bedford's town centre renewal, following the recent openings of other new stores, restaurants, and community spaces".

The venue also provides an opportunity for people to buy Bedford gifts previously available in the Higgins Art Gallery and Museum, and displays from the Bedfordshire Art Loan Collection can be viewed in its ground floor windows along Silver Street and the High Street.

In terms of the rest of the building, Wootton told the BBC the "eventual plan was to have shops on the ground floor and flats and houses and actually have people living in the town centre".

He added that "timescales for things are always problematic for councils and things always slip" - but he hoped that "over the next couple of years you will see plans coming forward and things developing".

Wootton pointed to the future arrival of Universal studios in the town as one of the motivations for developing the area.

He said: "We want to be ready in four or five years' time when millions of people start coming here, so they have got somewhere to go.

"The town is changing and we are doing all this cleaning and litter picking which is endless, but we are determined that Bedford is gonna be the place to be and I am really excited about that."

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