More than £42 million to be spent redeveloping the Shrewsbury Dana, says MP
More than £42m will be spent redeveloping Shropshire's former jail, it has been revealed. The ex-HMP Shrewsbury at the Dana will "most likely" be converted into homes and office space, according to the town's MP Daniel Kawczynski said.
But he has not ruled out the site being linked to the new University Centre Shrewsbury – which is expected to attract hundreds of undergraduate and postgraduate students to the town – in some form.
He made the claims after a meeting at the House of Commons with Trevor Osborne of the Osborne Group, which has bought the former prison behind Shrewsbury railway station, at the House of Commons to discuss his plans for the area.
Mr Osborne has pledged to let people of the town have their say on what should happen to the former jail and wants to hold an open day to give people the chance to look around and tell him what they think should be done.
Mr Kawczynski said Mr Osborne had told him he would be investing "£42 million plus" in the project.
He said: "I invited Mr Osborne to the House of Commons to meet and first of all thank him for investing in Shrewsbury.
"He has a fantastic track record with projects like this, his company has invested a lot of money around the UK.
"I think he is very much looking at residential and office space – and other facilities that will be complementing that."
But, he said, he "did not discount" linking the redevelopment to the the new University Centre Shrewsbury, due to take on its first intake of undergraduates in September this year.
"Everything is up for grabs," Mr Kawczynski said.
"He is very keen to hear from residents about what they would like to see. He is open to suggestions from the local community," he said.
He said Mr Osborne had also given him an assurance that he would be offering official tours of the site to residents before redevelopment work started.
Previously Mr Osborne said: "It will be my aim to retain the historic fabric and the essence of its architecture whilst changing one's perception from dread and despondency to hope and happiness."
The plans are expected to take up to four years to come to fruition.
The former jail was sold to the Osborne Group for a seven-figure sum. The Osborne group has undertaken a large number of development projects in the past including the transformation of Oxford Prison into a Malmaison hotel.
The Dana dates back to 1793 but closed in spring 2013 as part of a Government programme to shut ageing and expensive jails. It was put up for sale in February last year and attracted several bids.
